MODERN  PROBLEMS 
AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


i '  F  RriiilllilHl|!i  HORNE 


MODERN 
^       JESUS  SAW 


BY 


HERMAN  HARRELL  HORNE 

(I 


ASSOCIATION    PRESS 

NEW  YORK:    124  EAST  28xH   STREET 
1919 


4K 


COPYRIGHT,  1918,  BY 

THE  INTERNATIONAL  COMMITTEE  OP 

YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS 


CONTENTS 

STUDY  PAGE 

PREFACE vii 

I.    JESUS  AND  WAR i 

II.    JESUS  AND  CRIME 16 

III.  JESUS  AND  THE  STATE 2O 

IV.  JESUS  AND  WEALTH 26 

V.  JESUS  AND  POVERTY 34 

VI.  JESUS  AND  LABOR 44 

VII.  JESUS  AND  MARRIAGE 58. 

VIII.      JESUS  AND  THE  SABBATH    63 

IX.      JESUS  AND  THE  RELIGIOUS  AUTHORITIES.       75 

X.    JESUS  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM 102 

XI.      JESUS  AND  THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN    ...    I2O 

XII.    JESUS  AND  MISSIONS 126 

A  FEW  SUGGESTED  REFERENCES 136 


PREFACE 

The  aftermath  of  the  great  war  has  begun  before 
the  conflict  has  ended,  notably  in  the  Russian  revolu- 
tion, in  the  German  promise  of  a  more  democratic 
electorate,  and  in  the  movements  to  insure  a  world- 
peace.  The  processes  of  social  reconstruction  following 
hard  upon  peace  will  probably  settle  many  old  problems 
in  new  ways.  The  old  order  of  things  has  been  shaken, 
in  some  instances  destroyed,  by  the  necessity  of  social 
cooperation  under  the  strain  of  war.  Society  will  not 
be  satisfied  to  settle  back  into  the  old  ways;  indeed  it 
cannot  do  so.  ^*New  social  habits  will  be  formed  based 
on  the  most  stirring  national  experience  of  this  gen- 
eration. In  earth  and  sea  and  air  new  wonders  have 
been  seen,  new  marvels  accomplished,  new  manifesta- 
tions of  the  power  of  cooperant  man,  both  at  the  front 
and  at  home.  These  new  experiences  have  suggested 
different,  in  some  cases  undoubtedly  better,  ways  of 
doing  what  society  must  doj 

^Following  in  the  wake  of  the  war,  we  may  expect 
new  accomplishments  in  the  preservation  of  peace ;  new 
definitions  of  international  crimes;  new  methods  of 
police  force  to  make  international  law  physically  as 
well  as  morally  effective ;  new  phases  of  state  control  of 
public  utilities;  new  participation  by  the  people  in  the 
art  of  self-government;  new  uses  of  money  in  the  arts 
of  both  peace  and  war;  less  disparity  between  the  in- 
come of  the  rich  and  the  poor;  the  organization  of  in- 
dustry in  the  interest  of  man  rather  than  money;  the 
tightening  of  morals  following  the  demoralisation  nf 
war ;  and  a  better  recognition  of  the  true  ends  of  living. 

vii 


PREFACE 

In  all  this  social  reconstruction,  what  part  will  Jesus 
play?  In  the  main,  though  perhaps  unconsciously,  the 
new  solutions  will  be  inspired  by  his  spiritJ  The  bitter 
and  the  sweet  experiences  of  man  in  war  and  peace 
teach  the  same  lessons  of  life  that  he  exemplified  and 
announced.  ^  Those  who  consciously  and  loyally  accept 
his  leadership  short-circuit  the  wander-years  of  life  be- 
fore man  comes  to  himself.  At  such  a  time  as  this, 
when  human  society  is  taking  stock  of  life,  when  the 
big  problems  are  in  process  of  solution  and  more  sub- 
ject to  control,  it  is  important  to  reexamine  the  socially 
significant  teachings  of  Jesus. ; 

These  short  studies  are  intended  to  open  the  ear  to 
the  guiding  voice  of  Jesus  in  a  time  of  social  confusion 
and  transformation.  fProbably  the  biggest  question  be- 
fore the  Christian  churches  today  is,  "Can  Jesus  save 
society?"  There  is  an  individual  gospel  which  puts 
the  person  right  with  God  and  man,  whatever  the  con- 
ditions, and  there  is  a  social  gospel  which  makes  the 
conditions  of  living  right.  The  individual  and  the 
social  gospel  are  two  phases  of  the  one  gospel  of  love. 
The  individual  gospel  emphasizes  the  love  of  man  for 
God,  the  social  gospel  the  love  of  man  for  man. 

Historically,  the  Church  has  emphasized  the  individ- 
ual gospel;  it  is  coming  also  to  emphasize  the  social 
gospel.  The  individual  gospel,  as  inadequately  preached, 
has  aimed  to  get  souls  into  heaven  after  death;  the 
social  gospel  aims  to  get  heaven  into  souls  before 
death.  The  individual  gospel  has  aimed  to  keep  souls 
out  of  hell  after  death;  the  social  gospel  aims  to  keep 
hell  out  of  souls  before  death.  The  individual  gospel 
plucks  souls  as  brands  from  the  burning,  the  social 
gospel  puts  out  the  fire. 

Truly  viewed,  the  individual  gospel  fills  the  soul  with 


PREFACE 

love  to  God  and  man  which,  in  turn,  makes  one  an 
energy  for  righteousness  in  the  world,  which  is  social. 
Usually,  the  individual  gospel  is  the  cause  and  the 
social  gospel  is  the  effect.  The  reverse  is  sometimes 
the  case,  in  that  the  doing  of  a  Christian  job  by  a  non- 
Christian  man  tends  to  make  of  him  a  Christian. 

Each  phase  of  the  gospel  needs  the  other.  The  in- 
dividual gospel  gives  inspiration  and  motive  to  the 
social  gospel  and  the  social  gospel  gives  direction  and 
accomplishment  to  the  individual  gospel.  Without  the 
social  gospel  the  individual  gospel  is  mystical,  other- 
worldly, hopeless  about  human  conditions;  without  the 
individual  gospel  the  social  gospel  is  narrowly  humani- 
tarian and  ultimately  aimless.  ' 

The  writer  of  these  pages  accepts  the  individual  gos- 
pel; he  also  accepts  the  social  gospel.  His  proposition 
is  not  to  substitute  a  social  program  for  individual 
regeneration,  but  to  set  regenerated  individuals  to  work 
improving  human  conditions.  The  social  gospel  is 
adequately  based  both  in  the  life  and  teachings  of  Jesus 
and  in  the  scientific  principle  of  the  influence  of  en- 
vironment on  life. 

It  is  an  interesting,  even  a  strange,  thing  that  many 
church  people  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  social 
gospel.  In  effect  I  quote  the  actual  words  of  one  of 
the  leaders  of  one  of  the  largest  Protestant  denomina- 
tions. He  thanks  God  he  is  not  "a  brother  to  the  man 
in  the  mire";  he  will  not  "secularize  the  teachings  of 
Christ";  he  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  "community 
uplift,"  "social  betterment,"  "human  welfare  work," 
"destroying  poverty" ;  he  thanks  God  he  has  no  "Christ 
of  the  back  alley."  This  attitude  is  actually  none  other 
than  that  of  the  priest  and  the  Levite  passing  by  on 
the  other  side,  leaving  the  work  of  real  ministry  to  the 

ix 


PREFACE 

non-ecclesiastical  Good  Samaritan.  The  "pure  gospel" 
is  really  an  applied  gospel.  ^ 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  some  social  workers 
who  set  about  improving  human  conditions  on  the  basis 
of  good  fellowship  and  love  of  their  kind  without  the 
religious  motive,  whose  results  are  necessarily  handi- 
capped by  the  incompleteness  of  their  ministry.  Life 
is  religious  at  the  core.  The  following  pages  are  a 
protest  equally  against  unsocialized  religion  and  unreli- 
gious  sociality. 

The  Jesus  here  presented  is  he  of  the  four  evangel- 
ists— 

"A  light  for  revelation  to  the  Gentiles, 
And  the  glory  of  thy  people  Israel," 

not  the  Christ  of  dogma,  theology,  or  criticism.  Into 
his  presence  one  comes  even  at  the  study  table  only 
for  better  or  for  worse.  If  one  says  that  the  Jesus  of 
the  gospel  writers  gives  us  no  philosophy  of  life,  I 
reply  he  gives  us  in  practice  and  precept  a  way  of  life. 
If  another  says  this  Jesus  of  the  evangelists  is  not  the 
historic  person  of  Nazareth,  I  reply  he,  as  portrayed, 
is  the  ideal  figure  who  has  changed,  is  changing,  and 
will  more  mightily  change,  the  course  of  human  history 
on  our  planet.  If  a  reader  of  the  following  pages  says 
justice  has  not  been  done  to  Jesus  as  the  Word  of  God 
to  man,  I  agree,  and  reply  it  was  not  attempted.  These 
pages  are  written  only  as  studies  in  the  social  signifi- 
cance of  the  life  and  teachings  of  Jesus,  brief  but  surely 
timely  and,  we  trust,  true  as  far  as  they  go. 

Facing  a  world  bathed  in  its  own  blood  and  tears, 
especially  that  part  of  the  world  which  has  named  the 
name  of  Christ  and  which  we  trusted  should  redeem 
the  whole,  I  record  my  conviction  at  the  conclusion  of 

x 


PREFACE 

these  studies  that,  though  Christians  have  failed,  Chris- 
tianity has  not  failed;  that  it  is  more  vigorous  in  at- 
tacking the  gates  of  hell  today  than  ever  before;  that 
human  society  is  undergoing  a  refining  process  by  fire, 
that  the  things  which  cannot  be  consumed  may  remain. 
These  remaining  things  will  be  the  principles  of  social 
reform  as  lived  and  taught  by  Jesus 

H.  H.  H. 

Leonia,  New  Jersey. 

March  i,  1918. 


STUDY  I 

JESUS  AND  WAR 
It  is  easy  today  to  discuss  the  subject  of  war,  but  Maya 


it  is  difficult  to  say  anything  final  concerning  it.  To 
a  great  many  people  in  our  country,  of  whom  I  am  one, 
it  is  an  important  matter  to  know,  if  possible,  what 
Jesus  thought  about  war.  For  our  purposes  a  Chris- 
tian may  be  defined  as  one  whose  life  is  controlled  by 
the  spirit  of  Jesus,  or  one  who  loyally  follows  the  prin- 
ciples of  Jesus  as  best  he  can.  A  Christian  nation 
would  be  one  whose  acts  as  a  government  were  similarly 
controlled  by  the  spirit  of  Jesus.  Our  question  is, 
May  a  Christian  man  or  nation  under  any  circumstances 
go  to  war?  And  we  will  seek  an  answer  from  Jesus 
himself. 
First,  what  experience  did  he  have  with  soldiers  as  The  Experience 

a  basis  of  his  teaching  about  war?    His  life  brought  of  ^esus 

.  .       .  .     .  .  .         ,,.  s        with  Soldiers 

him  in  repeated  contact  with  soldiers. 

Even  to  John  the  Baptist,  the  Herald  of  the  King-  The  Words  of 
dom,  from  whom  Jesus  himself  received  baptism,  had  &«  Baptist 
soldiers  on  some  kind  of  unknown  service  come,  along 
with  other  classes.    Their  question  of  John  was  :  "And 
we,  what  must  we  do?"     And  John,  having  in  mind 
the  current  abuses  of  the  soldiers'  occupation,  said  unto 
them  three  things:  "Extort  from  no  man  by  violence, 
neither  accuse  anyone  wrongfully,  and  be  content  with 
your  wages."     John  did  not  tell  the  soldiers  to  dis- 
band or  lay  down  their  arms. 

There  was  a  Roman  centurion  in  Capernaum,  a  lover  J«««  and  th« 
and  benefactor  of  the  Jewish  nation,  perhaps  a  proselyte 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


Jesus 

Arrested  by 
Soldiers 


Struck  by 
an  Officer 


Smitten  and 
Mocked  by 
Officers 

Mocked  by 
Herod  and 
his  Soldiers 


Suffered 
Grossest 
Indignities 
from  Pilate's 
Soldier* 


Crucified 
by  Soldiers 


to  Judaism,  a  man  who  was  under  authority  himself 
and  who  wielded  authority  over  soldiers,  at  whose  great 
faith  Jesus  marvelled,  and  whose  beloved  bondservant 
Jesus  healed. 

Jesus  was  arrested  by  a  band  of  soldiers  and  officers 
from  the  chief  priests  and  the  Pharisees  and  was  car- 
ried bound  before  his  judges,  who  were  also  his  ac- 
cusers. 

In  the  presence  of  Annas,  the  father-in-law  of  the 
high  priest,  he  was  struck  with  the  hand  by  one  of  the 
officers  standing  by. 

Likewise  before  the  high  priest,  Caiaphas,  the  officers 
smote  him  with  the  palms  of  their  hands  and  mocked 
him. 

Herod  Antipas,  tetrarch  of  Galilee,  who  was  in 
Jerusalem  during  the  passover  week  before  the  cruci- 
fixion, with  his  soldiers,  perhaps  his  bodyguard,  set 
Jesus  at  naught  and  mocked  him. 

After  Jesus  had  been  condemned  unjustly  and 
scourged  by  vacillating  Pilate,  the  soldiers  of  the 
Roman  governor  led  Jesus  into  their  own  quarters,  the 
Praetorium,  gathered  the  whole  band,  and  brutally  sub- 
jected him  to  the  grossest  indignities,  including  strip- 
ping him ;  arraying  him  in  a  purple  garment ;  plaiting  a 
crown  of  thorns  and  putting  it  upon  his  head;  putting 
a  reed  in  his  right  hand ;  kneeling  down  before  him  and 
mocking  him,  saying,  "Hail,  King  of  the  Jews";  spit- 
ting upon  him;  and  taking  the  reed  and  smiting  him 
on  the  head. 

Roman  soldiers  led  him  away  to  crucify  him,  and, 
having  done  so,  four  of  them  parted  his  garments 
among  them,  cast  lots  for  his  seamless  tunic,  sat  and 
watched  him  agonize,  and  mocked  him  still. 

After  his  death  the  Roman  centurion  in  command 


JESUS  AND  WAR 

of  the  crucifixion,  and  others,  seeing  his  manner  on  Testified  to  by 

the  cross,  testified  in  his  favor.  a  Centurion 

One  soldier  pierced  his  side  with  a  spear  to  make  Pierced  by  a 

sure  of  his  death,  which  did  not  have  to  be  hastened  by  Sol<Uer>i 

Spear 
the  breaking  of  his  legs. 

The  chief  priests  and  Pharisees,  having  so  requested  His  Sepulchre 

Pilate  and  at  his  direction,  set  a  guard  of  soldiers  at  his  ®°"ded  by 

Soldiers 
sepulchre  to  prevent,  as  they  said,  his  disciples  stealing 

away  the  body  and  then  saying  he  had  risen  from  the 
dead.  At  the  sight  of  the  Resurrection  angel,  these 
"watchers  did  quake  and  become  as  dead  men."  Later 
some  of  them  reported  to  the  chief  priests  what  had 
happened,  and  were  bribed  to  say  the  body  was  stolen 
by  the  disciples  while  they  slept. 

So  at  many  points  the  life  of  Jesus  and  the  occupa- 
tion of  the  soldier  were  in  contact. 

Is  there  any  evidence  from  the  content  of  his  teach-  His  Teaching 
ing  that  he  knew  yet  more  about  soldiers,  war,  and  *eveals 

0  ,  Knowledge 

warfare  ?  of  War 

The  injunction:  "Whosoever  shall  compel  thee  to  The  Second 
go  one  mile,  go  with  him  two,"  was  probably  occasioned   Mfle 
by  the  habit  that  Roman  soldiers  had  of  impressing  the 
service  of  a  pedestrian  and  requiring  him  to  carry  the 
soldier's  burden  a  mile. 

He  described  himself  in  a  figure  as  having  come  not  Not  Peace, 
to  bring  peace  on  earth  but  a  sword,  indicating  the  but  * Sword 
divisions  of  opinion  concerning  the  Kingdom  which 
would  even  separate  members  of  the  same  family.    The 
saintly  Simeon  had  prophesied  at  the  presentation  that 
a  sword  should  pierce  Mary's  soul. 

Just  before  his  arrest  he  counseled  his  disciples  that  Counseled 
he  who  had  no  sword  should  sell  his  cloak  and  buy 
one,  perhaps  also  in  a  figure,  suggesting  preparation  in 
soul  for  the  tribulations  awaiting  them  after  his  de- 

3 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


Two  Swords 
Among  His 
Company 


A  King's 
Army 


A  King's 

Council 
of  War 


Prophesied 
the  Siege  of 
Jerusalem 


Does  Jesus 

Countenance 

War? 


parture.  They  did  not  actually  use  swords  during  the 
trials  of  the  early  Church.  There  were  two  swords 
in  the  company  at  the  time,  perhaps  for  purposes  of 
defense  on  the  road  to  Jericho  and  elsewhere,  which 
he  said  were  enough.  One  of  these  was  Peter's. 

In  the  parable  of  the  Marriage  of  the  King's  Son, 
Jesus  refers  to  the  king,  angry  at  the  murder  of  his 
servants,  sending  his  armies,  destroying  the  murderers, 
and  burning  their  city.  We  do  not  need  to  inquire  here 
the  spiritual  meaning  concealed  in  this  account  of  the 
deeds  of  an  Oriental  tyrant's  army  or  how  Jesus  came 
to  know  about  such. 

In  emphasizing  and  illustrating  the  importance  of 
counting  the  cost  before  entering  the  Kingdom,  Jesus 
describes  a  king's  council  of  war  concerning  his  ability 
to  meet  twenty  thousand  with  ten  thousand,  or,  failing 
that,  an  ambassage  inquiring  the  conditions  of  peace. 

Seeing  the  nationalistic  spirit  of  the  Jews  arrayed 
against  the  power  of  the  Romans,  Jesus  foretold  how 
the  enemies  of  Jerusalem  (showing  his  military  knowl- 
edge) would  cast  up  a  bank  about  it,  compass  it  round, 
and  dash  it  with  its  little  ones  to  the  ground.  This 
took  place  in  the  siege  of  Titus,  A.D.  70. 

So  the  content  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  drawn  in 
so  many  instances  from  military  affairs,  as  well  as  his 
actual  experience  with  soldiers,  indicates  at  least  a 
general  familiarity  with  war.  From  his  known  famili- 
arity with  the  Old  Testament  we  might  also  infer 
as  much. 

Now  what,  if  anything,  in  the  teachings  or  the  prac- 
tice of  Jesus  countenances  war  as  a  method  of  social 
action?  Presently  we  shall  be  asking  how  Jesus  dis- 
credits war. 

The  first  thing  that  may  surprise  us  is  that,  having 
4 


JESUS  AND  WAR 

so  many  relationships  with  soldiers  and  knowing  so  Jews  Do»s 

much  about  war  and  its  attendant  horrors  as  an  exist-  Not  Explicitly 

Condemn 
ent  mode  of  settling  difficulties,  Jesus  did  not  finally  w«r 

and  explicitly  condemn  all  war.  Jesus,  like  John,  no- 
where commands  soldiers  to  lay  down  their  arms. 
That  would  have  been  an  interference  with  the  affairs 
of  state,  which  on  every  occasion  he  studiously  avoided. 

On  the  contrary,  Jesus  strictly  enjoins  that  the  Jews  Rendering 
should  "render  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's."  uato  Caesar 
The  answer  was  given  to  the  entrapping  question  con- 
cerning paying  tribute  unto  Caesar,  the  answer  to  which 
the  wily  questioners  thought  would  put  Jesus  in  the  posi- 
tion either  of  political  disloyalty  to  the  Romans  through 
forbidding  it,  or  religious  disloyalty  to  the  Jews  through 
allowing  it.  Doubtless  his  answer,  showing  that 
patriotism  and  religion  are  distinct  but  compatible,  in 
contrast  with  their  Jewish  unification,  would  probably 
have  been  similar  in  case  the  question  had  concerned 
the  lawfulness  of  a  Jew's  being  conscripted  to  serve 
in  Caesar's  army. 

He  specifically  taught  that  before  the  end,  the  con-  Prophesied 
summation  of  the  ages,  nation  should  rise  against  nation  Wars  to 
and  kingdom  against  kingdom,  and  that  there  should 
be  wars  and  rumors  of  wars,  thereby  indicating  that 
wars  were  to  be  expected  in  the  course  of  human  events. 

In  cleansing  the  Temple,  Jesus  made  a  scourge  of  Cleansing 
cords,  thus  acting  deliberately  and  not  impulsively, 
cast  out  the  sheep  and  oxen  and  all  those  that  bought 
and  sold  there,  poured  out  the  changers'  money,  and 
overthrew  their  tables  and  the  seats  of  those  that  sold 
doves,  and  suffered  no  one  to  carry  a  vessel  through 
the  Temple.  Such  action  required  physical  as  well 
as  moral  force  and  courage,  indicating  doubtless  not 
merely  the  temporary  cleansing  of  the  Temple  of  the 

5 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


A  Hypo- 
thetical 
Question 
about  the 
Good 
Samaritan 


The  Fighting 
Quality  of 
Jesus 


profanation  of  a  double  system  of  graft,  based  on  first 
exchanging  the  money  of  visitors  to  the  feast  and  then 
selling  them  the  sacrificial  animals,  but  also  sym- 
bolically the  permanent  ending  of  the  sacrificial  system. 
Here  was,  negatively,  deliberate  and  aggressive  physical 
and  moral  attack  thoroughly  carried  out,  on  a  den  of 
robbers  profaning  the  Temple,  and,  positively,  rearing 
in  place  of  the  abused  sacrificial  system  the  principle 
of  worship  in  prayer. 

So  Jesus  felt  about  the  desecration  of  the  Temple  by 
the  den  of  thieves.  In  this  connection  we  may  properly 
raise  the  question,  in  telling  the  story  of  the  Good 
Samaritan,  if  Jesus  had  introduced  the  priest,  the 
Levite,  and  the  Good  Samaritan  as  coming  on  the  scene 
while  the  band  of  thieves  were  beating  their  victim 
half  to  death,  what  would  have  happened?  Would  the 
Good  Samaritan  have  stood  pacifically  by,  waiting  to 
remedy  wounds  he  may  have  had  the  power  to  prevent  ? 
Could  the  Christ  who  single-handed  cleaned  out  the 
den  of  temple  robbers  present  such  a  picture  of  inane 
goodness  facing  highway  robbers?  Of  what  use  were 
the  two  swords  carried  by  the  company  of  disciples? 
we  may  ask.  Were  they  made  of  wood  and  only  for 
show?  or,  was  the  idea  that  of  self-defense  before 
ruffians  of  the  open  country? 

Jesus  does  not  impress  us  as  being  anemic  and  pas- 
sively good,  but  as  strong  with  the  strength  of  the 
carpenter's  frame,  red-blooded  from  life  in  the  open, 
self-controlled  always,  but  capable  of  a  flaming  right- 
eous indignation  against  evil,  which  at  times  spent  it- 
self otherwise  than  in  words.  With  all  his  mental  and 
moral  force  he  opposed  the  religious  legality,  formal- 
ism, superficiality,  and  hypocrisy  of  the  religious  leaders 
of  his  day.  It  finally  cost  him  his  life,  as  he  very  well 

6 


JESUS  AND  WAR 

knew  in  advance  that  it  would.  He  laid  that  down,  not 
without  an  agonizing  struggle,  but  willingly,  in  the 
fulfilment  of  his  mission  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth. 
He  never  compromised  with  evil,  he  never  ceased  to 
make  war  on  it,  and  he  never  made  peace  with  it, 
though  at  the  Temptation  he  felt  that  the  price  offered 
was  temporal  rulership  of  all  the  nations  of  the  world. 

While  these  facts  may  not  clearly  justify  a  Chris-  No  Clear 

tian  man  or  nation  in  going  to  war,  they  significantly   Condemna- 
-.  '  r      11  ,  tion  of  All 

prevent  the  quick  condemnation  of  all  war,   so  long  War  ^  ^ 

at  least  as  righteous  principles  require  defense  from   Practice  and 
attack.     When  humanity,  the  true  sanctuary  of  God, 
is  being  desecrated,  Christian  men  and  nations  may 
well  remember  their  Captain. 

On  the  other  hand,  what  in  the  practice  and  teach-   What  in  Jesus 

ings  Of  JeSUS  Opposes  war?  Discredits  War? 

f  He  recognizes  himself  not  as  destroying  but  as  ful-   He  is  the 

filling  the  law  and  the  prophets,  a  part  of  whose  dream  Prop1"*16 

Fulfilment 
had  concerned  the  Prince  of  Peace  who  should  come 

and  the  time  when  the  peoples  "shall  beat  their  swords 
into  plowshares,  and  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks : 
nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation,  neither 
shall  they  learn  war  any  more"  (Isa.  2:4). 

At  his  birth  the  angels  sang  of  "peace  on  earth  among  The  Angels' 
men  of  good  will,"  the  only  kind  of  men  on  earth  among  Sons  at  *&• 
whom  there  can  possibly  be  peace.     This  song  of  the 
angels  reflects  the  influence  on  the  imaginative,  poetic, 
beloved  physician,  Luke,  of  the  ultimate  significance 
of  the  coming  of  Jesus.     And  the  song  was  for  the 
shepherds,  one  of  the  working  classes,  who  suffer  most 
from  war. 

Between    individual    members    of   the    Kingdom    at  Non- 
least,  he  taught  the  doctrine  of  non-resistance  to  evil, 
turning  the  other  cheek  to  the  smiter,  giving  the  cloak 

7 


Deeds 

Interpret 

Words 


Lore  of 

Enemies 


Perishing  by 
the  Sword 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

also  to  a  man  adjudged  the  coat  in  a  suit  at  law — 
an  injunction  which  caused  the  literalistic  pacifist, 
Count  Tolstoy,  to  reject  all  courts  of  justice — and 
going  a  second  mile  voluntarily  with  the  man  who 
compels  one  to  go  a  mile  with  him. 

However,  in  the  trial  before  Annas,  when  one  of 
the  officers  standing  by  struck  Jesus  with  his  hand  and 
said:  "Answerest  thou  the  high  priest  so?"  Jesus  did 
not  literally  turn  the  other  cheek,  but,  without  physical 
resistance,  answered  him,  with  moral  resistance,  "If 
I  have  spoken  evil,  bear  witness  of  the  evil :  but  if  well, 
why  smitest  thou  me?"  (John  18:  23).  This  incident 
suggests  to  us  that  the  deeds  of  Jesus  must  be  used 
in  truly  understanding  his  words,  and  also  his  own 
saying:  "The  words  that  I  speak  unto  you,  they  are 
spirit  and  they  are  life"  (John  6:  63). 
f*  Jesus  rejected  the  very  ancient  law  of  retaliation, 
an  eye  for  an  eye,  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,  and  substituted 
therefor  the  principle  of  love  for  one's  enemies,  which 
he  exemplified  in  declining  to  call  down  fire  from  heaven 
on  an  inhospitable  Samaritan  village — a  method  he 
would  not  have  used,  even  if  he  had  desired  to  retaliate, 
having  at  the  Temptation  definitely  rejected  such 
draughts  on  the  supernatural  in  self-service.  Most 
notably  he  exemplified  his  teaching  of  love  for  enemies 
in  praying  on  the  cross  for  his  executioners:  "Father, 
forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do."  This 
principle  would  at  least  seem  to  exclude  reprisals  in 
warfare. 

He  taught  that  those  who  appeal  to  the  sword  should 
perish  by  the  sword,  probably  stating  a  general  prin- 
ciple of  the  inefficiency  of  the  appeal  merely  to  physical 
force,  not  applicable  exclusively  to  Oriental  tyrants. 
The  words  were  addressed  to  Peter  at  the  arrest. 

8 


JESUS  AND  WAR 

The  worst  to  be  done  to  a  sinning  brother  who  had  Treatment 
refused  personal  reconciliation,  mediation  through  wit-  °*  ^ 
nesses,    and   even   the    counsel    of   the    congregation,  Brother 
was  to  treat  him  as  the  Gentiles  and  the  collectors 
or  renters  of  Roman  taxes  were  commonly  treated,  that 
is,  have  no  dealings  with  him,  or  break  off  all  rela- 
tions (Matt.  18:  17). 

In  an  age  when  breaking  the  peace  was  the  usual  The  Peace- 
way  for  a  nation  to  secure  what  it  wanted,  Jesus  pro- 
nounced  blessing  on  the  peace-makers,  who  should 
be  known  in  the  Kingdom  as  the  children  of  God.  It 
is  probable  that  the  first  intent  of  this  beatitude  con- 
cerned peace-making  between  individuals. 

Jesus  himself,  until  he  recognized  that  his  hour  for  Jesus 
personal   surrender  to  the   forces  of  evil   had  come,  Avoided 

...  ,!•!•,  Personal 

avoided  personal  physical  violence  by  escaping  the  Physical 
scene  of  disturbance.  His  fellow-citizens  in  Nazareth  Violence 
cast  him  forth  out  of  the  city  in  wrath  at  his  first 
sermon  in  the  synagogue,  but,  when  they  would  throw 
him  headlong  down  from  the  brow  of  the  hill  whereon 
their  city  was  built,  he  passed  through  the  midst  of 
them  and  went  his  way.  When  the  Jews  took  up 
stones  to  cast  at  him  because  of  his  saying:  "Before 
Abraham  was,  I  am,"  Jesus  hid  himself  and  went  out 
of  the  Temple  (John  8:  59).  Again  when  they  sought 
to  take  him  following  his  refutation  of  the  charge  of 
blasphemy,  he  went  forth  out  of  their  hand  (John  10: 

39)- 

Likewise    he    instructed    his    disciples,    "when   they  Flee 
persecute  you  in  this  city,  flee  into  the  next"  (Matt.  10: 
23).    So  would  they  be  "harmless  as  doves." 

On  the  occasion  of  his  arrest  by  consent,  he  refused  Kon-Resist- 
to  call  for  the  twelve  legions  of  angels  he  felt  available 
through  prayer  to  his  Father,  in  accordance  with  his 

9 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


His 

Kingdom  not 
Temporal 


What 

Shall  We 
Conclude? 


No  Physical 
Force  in 
Self-Defense 
Actually 


Physical 
Force  in 
Defense  of 
Principle 
Against  Evil 


original  decision  at  the  Temptation  to  be  a  suffering 
Messiah  and  not  to  use  miracles  in  his  own  behalf. 
He  also  refused  to  meet  physical  force  with  physical 
force.  He  commanded  the  resisting  Peter  to  sheath  his 
sword,  and  he  healed  the  severed  ear  of  Malchus,  the 
servant  of  the  high  priest.  His  hour  had  come.  The 
Scriptures  must  be  fulfilled.  He  must  drink  the  cup 
which  the  Father  gave  him. 

Before  Pilate,  the  representative  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire, Jesus  testified :  "My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world : 
if  my  kingdom  were  of  this  world,  then  would  my 
servants  fight,  that  I  should  not  be  delivered  to  the 
Jews:  but  now  is  my  kingdom  not  from  hence"  (John 
18:  36).  He  was  no  temporal  deliverer  of  the  Jews, 
winning  his  way  by  warfare  against  superior  numbers, 
as  the  Maccabees  had  done.  The  method  of  establish- 
ing, maintaining,  and  extending  his  Kingdom  was  not 
that  of  the  sword. 

Thus  we  have  reviewed  what  in  the  practice  and  pre- 
cept of  Jesus  seems  to  credit  and  what  to  discredit  the 
appeal  to  arms.  What  shall  we  conclude?  Perhaps  the 
best  thing  is  to  let  each  Christian  conscience  decide  for 
itself.  What  follows  must  be  viewed  as  a  personal 
conclusion,  not  binding  on  those  unconvinced  by  it. 

Jesus  never  used  physical  force  to  defend  himself 
from  personal  attack,  though  his  company  with  the  two 
swords  may  conceivably  have  done  so.  When  possible, 
Jesus  himself  avoided  such  attacks  by  escape;  when 
not  possible  he  used  only  moral,  not  physical,  resist- 
ance, rebuking  such  injustice. 

Jesus  did  use  physical,  as  well  as  moral,  force  once 
at  least  in  attacking  entrenched  evil.  In  defense  of  him- 
self, non-resistance;  in  defense  of  his  righteous  prin- 
ciples, resistance,  and  even  aggressive  attack.  He 

10 


JESUS  AND  WAR 

voluntarily  sacrificed  his  life  in  throwing  himself  with 
all  his  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual  force  against 
the  hypocritical  religious  leaders  of  his  day.  From 
the  nature  of  the  case  physical  force  here  would  have 
availed  nothing;  he  used  the  most  effective  forces.  He 
realized  he  was  doing  this  to  make  the  members  of  his 
Kingdom  free  from  legalism,  and  announced  the  prin- 
ciple :  "Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man 
lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends"  (John  15:  13).  His 
sacrifice  was  in  defense  of  his  principles  and  in  love 
of  others  whom  he  would  make  free  indeed  from  legal- 
istic bondage. 
Jesus  gave  not  a  set  of  rules,  forbidding  this,  as  Jesus  Gave 

though  he  had  said,  "You  shall  never  go  to  war,"  or  aSP5«*« 

..Tr          .    „    not  Rules 
commanding  that,  as  though  he  had  said,     You  shall 

go  to  war  under  the  following  circumstances."  His 
contribution  is  the  spirit  of  love  as  shaping  human  con- 
duct. Love  of  one's  brother  is  the  counterpart  of 
hatred  of  whatsoever  oppresses  one's  brother.  Use  your 
Christian  conscience  and  do  as  you  must  is  perhaps  the 
final  answer  to  the  question.  This  is  the  liberty  where- 
with Christ  hath  set  us  free  from  religious  legalism. 

A  Christian  may  fight,  as  Jesus  used  physical  force  A  Christian 
in  cleansing  the  Temple,  in  case  he  fights  in  love —  May  Fight 
love  of  God,  His  righteousness  on  the  earth,  and  one's 
brother  man.    A  Christian  nation  may  fight,  if  animated 
by  the  same  motive  of  love.    The  love  of  righteousness 
at  any  cost  is  not  consistent  with  the  cause  of  peace  at 
any  price.    It  involves  hatred  of  wrong,  not  of  wrong- 
doers,  and   consequent   action   of   the   most   effective 
quality  against  it.    It  is  possible  to  fight  evil  and  love 
the  evil-doer,  though  it  is  not  easy,  nor  often  the  case. 

This  spirit  of  love  of  righteousness,  though  costly,  Ultimate 

will  in  time  eliminate  war.    Such  is  our  faith.    Despite  Elimination 

of  War 
II 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


Hypothesis 
of  a  National 
Crucifixion 


The  Sword 

of  Justice 


World- 
Solution 
or  None 


the  lack  of  any  clear  prohibition  of  war,  the  weight  of 
the  position  of  Jesus  is  decidedly  against  war  ultimately. 
If  all  men  and  nations  were  real  friends,  there  could 
be  no  war. 

It  is  possible  that  the  world  will  not  be  rid  of  war  till 
a  Christian  nation,  relying  only  on  non-physical  forces 
of  the  highest  spiritual  quality,  submits  to  crucifixion, 
as  it  were — that  is,  to  unresisted  violation  of  national 
integrity.  It  is  not  clear  that  even  this  procedure 
would  be  effective,  as  a  cannibal  does  not  cease  to  be 
a  cannibal  through  consuming  an  unresisting  mission- 
ary. A  governess  in  the  Tolstoy  family  relates  the 
incident  of  Tolstoy's  little  girl  running  in  crying  to 
her  father,  with  the  entreaty  that  he  do  something  to 
the  neighbor's  boy  who  had  badly  beaten  her.  Tolstoy 
took  his  little  girl  on  his  lap  and  persuaded  her  to  give 
the  boy  some  bread,  butter,  and  jam.  The  governess 
was  unable  to  follow  up  the  influence  of  so  ideal  an 
act  on  the  character  of  the  boy.  A  spiritual  friend  of 
mine  was  yet  so  carnally  minded  as  to  suggest  that 
the  boy  knew  what  to  do  the  next  time  he  wanted  jam, 
bread,  and  butter. 

Justice  has  a  sword,  and  it  is  not  made  of  wood. 
Mercy  forgives,  but  only  at  a  cost.  Only  mushiness 
forgives  at  no  cost.  Jesus  was  crucified,  yet  there  are 
murders  still,  perhaps  even  judicial  ones  like  his.  Yet 
there  is  progress,  though  slow,  and  such  progress  might 
be  vastly  accelerated  by  the  shameful  tragedy  of  a 
national  crucifixion. 

The  elimination  of  war  can  come  about  only  on  the 
basis  of  good  will  among  all  men — however  brought 
about — universal  Christianity  in  practice  if  not  in  form, 
some  plan  of  amicable  internationalism.  The  earth 
through  modern  invention  is  now  so  small  and  unified 

13 


JESUS  AND  WAR 

that  no  nation  can  either  live  or  die  to  itself.  As  an 
individual  can  be  only  partially  saved  m  an  unsaved 
society,  so  a  nation  can  be  only  partially  saved  in  an 
unsaved  world. 

Meanwhile  we  rely  on  police  force  to  prevent  dis-  Use  of 

turbance  of  the  peace.    There  is  no  effective  interna-  Polic« 

Force 
tional  law,  because  there  are  no  international  police 

and  no  adequate  international  sentiments.  We  rely  on 
our  diplomats  also  not  to  jeopardize  our  patriotism  by 
putting  our  country  in  a  wrong  position.  The  men  who 
inspire  diplomacy  and  movements  for  world  peace  with 
Christian  principles  are  themselves  men  inspired  by 
Christ. 
We  do  not  know  what  Jesus  would  have  done  had  Certain 

a  band  of  ruffians  attacked  his  sisters  and  his  mother  ^esistanc« 
,    .     _.  ....  Inevitable 

in  their  Nazareth  home,  but  we  can  imagine.    It  is  not 

likely  that  even  a  converted  and  redeemed  man  will 
ever  tamely  submit  to  such.  It  is  certainly  dirty  busi- 
ness attacking  any  human  being,  even  one  who  is  in- 
juring the  innocent  and  helpless;  it  is  dirtier  business 
— is  it  not? — standing  idly  by,  and,  by  inaction,  con- 
senting to  the  deed. 
If  a  Christian  ever  shoulders  a  rifle  or  buckles  on  a  Emotions 

sword  as  a  soldier,  he  does  so  with  love  and  sadness  °f »Fl8i>tin« 

Christian 
in  his  heart,  but  with  a  soul  aflame  in  righteous  wrath 

against  oppressive  evil,  and  with  a  prayer  to  God  that 
the  time  be  shortened.  He  bears  no  enmity  against  the 
individual  foe  confronting  him,  whom  he  attacks  only 
as  a  misguided  person  representing  an  iniquitous  sys- 
tem. He  is  slain  by  his  fellow,  or  slays  him,  a«  a  part 
of  the  world-tragedy  of  the  conflict  between  good  and 
evil.  If  we  may  so  express  it,  God  will  never  make 
peace  with  the  Evil  One  except  on  the  basis  of  uncon- 
ditional surrender ;  meanwhile  the  conflict  goes  on  with 

13 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


A  Christian's 
Conscience 
His  Guide 


Historic 
Aspects 
of  the 
Question 
Omitted 


The 
Christian 

Soldier 


men  as  agents,  and  the  Devil  has  to  be  fought  with 
fire. 

Of  course,  individual  good  men  may  mistakenly 
represent  an  evil  system  and  individual  bad  men  may 
represent  a  good  system,  but  Christian  men  will  go 
to  war  only  for  righteous  and  against  unrighteous  prin- 
ciples, as  revealed  by  a  clear  conscience.  In  actual 
war  such  a  man  may  be  relatively  inefficient,  in  violating 
any  of  the  accepted  rules  of  the  game  of  death. 

There  is  no  occasion  now  for  going  into  the  historic 
aspects  of  the  question  and  showing  how  military 
imagery  has  influenced  the  form  of  Christian  teaching, 
as  when  St.  Paul  says:  "Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith" 
(I  Tim.  6:  12);  or  how  the  famous  Christian  songs 
bear  the  military  stamp,  as  "Onward,  Christian  Sol- 
diers," "Stand  Up,  Stand  Up,  for  Jesus,"  "The  Son  of 
God  Goes  Forth  to  War,"  etc.,  or  how  different  bodies 
of  Christians  have  never  accepted  the  doctrine  of  peace 
at  any  price,  except  perhaps  a  few  literalists  like  George 
Fox  and  Count  Tolstoy. 

As  indicative  of  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  possible  for 
a  Christian  to  be  a  soldier,  I  append  the  following  poem, 
entitled  "German  Prisoners,"  by  Joseph  Lee,  which 
appeared  first  in  the  London  Spectator: 

When  first  I  saw  you  in  the  curious  street, 
Like  some  platoon  of  soldier  ghosts  in  gray, 
My  mad  impulse  was  all  to  smite  and  slay, 
To  spit  upon  you — tread  you  'neath  my  feet. 
But  when  I  saw  how  each  sad  soul  did  greet 
My  gaze  with  no  sign  of  defiant  frown, 
How  from  tired  eyes  looked  spirits  broken  down, 
How  each  face  showed  the  pale  flag  of  defeat, 
And  doubt,  despair,  and  disillusionment, 

14 


JESUS  AND  WAR 

And  how  were  grievous  wounds  on  many  a  head, 
And  on  your  garb  red-faced  was  other  red; 
And  how  you  stooped  as  men  whose  strength  was  spent, 
I  knew  that  we  had  suffered  each  as  other, 
And  could  have  grasped  your  hand  and  cried,  "My 
brother!" 


15 


STUDY  II 


Sin  and 
Crime 


Th.Lifs 
of  Jesus 
and  Crime 


JESUS  AND  CRIME 

Wherever  Church  and  State  are  separate  institutions, 
it  is  important  to  distinguish  between  sin  as  violation 
of  divine  law  and  crime  as  violation  of  human  law. 
Before  the  high  priests  Jesus  was  accused  of  saying 
he  was  able  to  destroy  the  temple  of  God  and  build  it 
again  in  three  days — a  garbled  and  misunderstood  re- 
port of  his  words  about  the  resurrection,  though  the 
priests  and  Pharisees  who  requested  from  Pilate  a 
guard  for  the  sepulchre  knew  well  what  Jesus  meant. 
Before  these  he  was  also  accused  by  the  high  priest 
himself  of  speaking  blasphemy  in  calling  himself  "the 
Son  of  the  Blessed"  ( Mark  14:61).  These  were  charges 
of  sin.  Before  Pilate  he  was  accused  of  stirring  up  the 
people,  forbidding  to  give  tribute  unto  Csesar,  and  mak- 
ing himself  a  king  (Luke  23:  2,  5) — the  second  charge 
being  false,  and  the  first  and  third  misinterpretations. 
These  were  charges  of  crime.  It  was  only  as  a  criminal, 
not  as  a  sinner,  that  Jesus  was  heard  by  Pilate,  and  even 
so,  Pilate  tried  to  turn  him  over  to  the  unwilling  Jews 
to  be  tried  by  their  religious  law.  Under  this  theocratic 
law  all  offenders  were  rated  as  "sinners,"  though  today 
some  of  these  offenders  would  be  ranked  with  criminals 
and  tried  in  the  civil  courts,  e.  g.  the  adulterous  woman 
(John  8:  i-io). 

Having  in  mind  those  offenses  that  today  would 
properly  be  regarded  as  crimes  as  well  as  sins,  we  say 
that  the  life  of  Jesus  was  not  unrelated  to  crime  and 
criminals.  Even  when  he  was  an  infant  the  jealous, 

16 


JESUS  ANtf  CRIME 

murderous  Herod  the  Great  had  slaughtered  the  inno- 
cents, seeking  his  life.  At  the  outset  of  his  ministry 
he  was  himself  tempted  to  sedition  against  Rome  as  a 
temporal  deliverer  of  his  people.  The  wicked  and 
wanton  murder  by  Herod  Antipas  of  the  Baptist,  than 
whom,  said  Jesus,  none  greater  had  arisen  among  those 
born  of  women,  so  impressed  him  that  he  "withdrew 
from  thence"  (Matt.  14: 13).  For  some  two  years,  mur- 
derous intent  against  his  own  life  was  cherished  by  the 
hierarchy.  His  fellow  Nazarenes  sought  to  hurl  him 
headlong  down  their  cliff.  He  was  warned  that  Herod 
Antipas,  the  "fox,"  sought  his  life.  He  came  into 
active  conflict  with  the  money  grafters  in  the  temple. 
At  the  end  he  was  the  victim  of  a  murderous  con- 
spiracy, the  chief  priests  and  the  elders  of  the  people 
coming  together  in  the  very  court  of  the  high  priest 
Caiaphas  and  taking  counsel  together  that  they  might 
take  Jesus  by  subtilty  and  kill  him  (Matt.  26:  3). 
This  iniquitous  purpose,  through  base  betrayal,  was 
accomplished.  Annas  sent  Jesus  to  Caiaphas  bound  as 
a  common  prisoner.  So  Jesus  was  personally  not  un- 
acquainted with  crime,  as  it  intimately  affected  his  own 
life. 

Besides,  there  were  five  criminals  with  whom  he  had  Five 
intimate  associations,  viz.  the  Samaritan  woman;  the   Criminate 
woman  taken  in  adultery ;  Herod  Antipas,  before  whom 
he   was   carried  at   the   trial;   and  the  two   crucified 
thieves.  He  must  have  known  also  of  the  release  of 
Barabbas  and  the  fate  of  Judas. 

The  content  of  his  teaching  includes  references  to  References 
thieves  breaking  through  and  stealing,  to  robbers  on  to  Crimes 
the  road  to  Jericho,  to  being  cast  into  prison  by  the 
officer,  to  persecutions  and  false  charges,  to  being  de- 
livered up  to  synagogues  and  prisons,  to  the  misap- 

17 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


Three 
Teachings 
Applicable 
to  Crime 


How  Jesus 
Dealt  With 
Criminals 


Summary 


propriation  of  funds  by  the  unjust  steward,  to  the 
tormentors  into  whose  hands  the  unmerciful  servant 
falls,  to  the  commandments  which  would  enable  the 
young  ruler  to  enter  into  life,  namely,  avoiding  the 
sins  of  murder,  adultery,  stealing,  false  witnessing, 
and  defrauding. 

There  are  three  general  teachings  of  his  which  have 
peculiar  application  to  the  criminal,  viz.  we  are  not  to 
judge  (Matt.  7:1);  out  of  the  heart  are  the  issues  of 
life,  "For  from  within,  out  of  the  heart  of  men,  evil 
thoughts  proceed,  fornications,  thefts,  murders,  adul- 
teries, covetings,  wickednesses,  deceit,  lasciviousness, 
an  evil  eye,  railing,  pride,  foolishness"  (Mark  7:  21, 
22) ;  and  the  necessity  of  the  new  birth  (John  3:  3). 

What  does  the  example  of  Jesus  as  he  dealt  with 
criminals  teach  us?  He  dealt  not  so  much  with  crime 
as  with  individual  criminals.  He  revealed  her  better 
self  to  the  Samaritan  woman;  he  declined  to  condemn 
the  woman  taken  in  adultery,  though  enjoining  her  to 
go  and  sin  no  more  (the  sinner  who  anointed  him  at  the 
feast  of  Simon  the  Pharisee  may  have  been  another 
such)  ;  he  stood  in  silent  condemnation  before  the  mur- 
derer Herod;  he  received  in  silence  the  reviling  of 
one  crucified  thief  and  encouraged  the  beginning  of 
good  in  the  other.  He  identified  himself  with  all  those 
in  prison  (Matt.  25:  43),  thus  indicating  some  goodness 
in  each  most  criminal  heart,  to  which  Peter  adds  that 
Jesus  went  and  preached  to  the  spirits  in  prison  (I 
Pet.  3:  19).  To  John  in  prison  he  sent  a  comforting 
message  (Luke  7:  22).  His  life  fulfils  the  promise  of 
the  first  sermon  in  Nazareth,  that  he  came  to  proclaim 
"liberty  to  the  captives,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison 
to  them  that  are  bound"  (Luke  4:  18). 

To  sum  up,  if  we  follow  Jesus  as  standard,  in  deal- 
18 


JESUS  AND  CRIME 

ing  with  criminals  we  are  not  to  judge;  we  are  to  work 
for  the  cleansing  of  the  heart;  we  are  to  uncover  the 
better  nature  and  secure  its  rebirth;  we  are  to  forgive 
and  not  condemn,  which  means  the  restoration  of  right 
relationship,  not  necessarily  the  remission  of  penalty; 
we  are  to  encourage  efforts  at  self-recovery;  we  are 
to  visit  those  in  prison,  brethren  of  his,  as  unto  him. 
Thus,  without  having  been  a  prison-reformer,  not  even 
condemning  casting  into  prison  for  debt,  Jesus  is  the 
greatest  inspirer  of  that  prison  reform,  the  simple 
philosophy  of  which,  according  to  Thomas  Mott  Os- 
borne,  is:  every  prisoner  has  a  good  side,  find  it,  and 
appeal  to  it. 


STUDY  III 
JESUS  AND  THE  STATE 

Joseph  and  Mary  were  in  Bethlehem  on  a  mission  of 
state  when  Jesus  was  born,  going  there  in  accordance 
with  the  decree  of  Caesar  Augustus  that  all  the  world 
should  be  enrolled.  Every  one  in  the  Roman  province 
of  Palestine  went  to  his  family  city,  according  to  the 
Jewish  custom,  Bethlehem  being  the  city  of  David,  to 
whose  family  Joseph  belonged.  Sages  of  the  East, 
whether  kings  or  priests  the  story  does  not  make  clear, 
are  presented  as  worshiping  the  infant  Jesus.  Through 
the  jealous  enmity  of  Herod  the  Great,  king  of  the 
Jews  under  Roman  authority,  the  flight  into  Egypt  is 
pictured.  Under  the  rule  of  Herod  Antipas  in  Galilee, 
the  Nazareth  home  was  established.  The  boyhood  and 
youth  of  Jesus  were  spent  in  a  community  governed 
by  a  Jewish  tetrarch  under  the  authority  of  imperial 
Rome.  He  became  familiar  with  the  import  taxes,  the 
"customs,"  collected  by  Jews  from  their  brethren  for 
their  Roman  masters,  and  with  the  social  prejudice 
against  the  collectors,  "the  publicans,"  which  associated 
them  with  "sinners."  He  became  familiar  also  with 
the  land,  property,  and  poll  taxes  payable  by  Jews  as 
Roman  subjects  into  the  imperial  treasury,  collected 
through  the  agency  of  the  Jewish  courts,  for  which 
purpose  Joseph  had  been  enrolled  in  Bethlehem,  that 
is,  "the  tribute  to  Caesar."  He  was  familiar,  too,  with 
the  patriotic  question  arising  therefrom  in  a  theocratic 
state,  whether  such  tribute  was  right. 

20 


JESUS  AND  THE  STATE 

He  drew  illustrations  of  his  spiritual  teaching  from  illustrations 
the  affairs  of  state.  He  contrasted  the  ideal  of  great-  v***?  from 
ness  as  service  in  his  Kingdom  with  that  of  lordship  ^e  State 
among  the  nations ;  in  showing  the  importance  of  count- 
ing the  cost  before  entering  the  Kingdom  he  refers  to 
a  king's  council  of  war;  in  teaching  the  lesson  of  set- 
tling disagreements  quickly  with  one's  adversary  he 
refers  to  the  actions  of  the  council  and  the  judge;  he 
knew  about  the  custom  of  Roman  soldiers  compelling 
pedestrians  to  carry  their  packs;  he  foretold  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem;  he  knew  about  the  kings  of 
earth  receiving  toll  or  tribute  from  strangers,  not  their 
own  sons,  about  their  making  a  marriage  supper  for 
their  sons,  and  about  those  in  kings'  palaces  being 
clothed  in  fine  linen  and  purple.  He  was  thus  not  only 
acquainted  with  the  general  customs  and  machinery  of 
civil  government,  but  also  repeatedly  drew  illustrations 
therefrom. 

At  the  last,  though  studiously  avoiding  giving  any  His  Death 
offense  whatsoever  to  the  civil  power,  seeing  no  neces-  and  **** 
sary  conflict  between  his  Kingdom  and  Caesar's,  the  one     tote 
being  spiritual  and  the  other  temporal — though  the  one 
was  destined  in  time  to  "leaven"  the  other — he  had  to 
face  as  an  arrested  criminal  the  civil  power  in  the 
persons  of  Herod  and  Pilate,  under  the  false  charge 
of  forbidding  to  give  tribute  unto  Caesar  and  the  mis- 
taken charge  of  "saying  he  is  Christ,  a  king"   (Luke 

23:   2). 

Before  the  immoral  monster  Herod,  the  drunken  mur-  Before 
derer  of  the  Herald  of  the  Kingdom,  Jesus  was  elo-  Herod 
quently  silent,  though  Herod  questioned  him  in  many 
words,  having  heard  concerning  him  and  for  a  long 
time  having  desired  to  see  him  and  perhaps  witness  a 
miracle  done  by  him  (Luke  23:8,  9).     Then  Herod 

21 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


Before 
Pilate 


and  his  soldiers  set  him  at  naught,  and  mocked  him, 
and  arraying  him  in  gorgeous  apparel  sent  him  back 
to  Pilate.  And  the  Jewish  Herod  and  the  Roman  Pilate, 
though  at  enmity  before,  became  friends  that  day 
(Luke  23:  12). 

Before  Pilate,  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  Jewish 
council  accusing  him  of  perverting  the  nation,  for- 
bidding to  give  tribute  to  Caesar,  and  saying  that  he 
himself  is  Christ,  a  king,  Jesus  answered  nothing.  When 
Pilate  in  their  presence  said:  "Hearest  thou  not  how 
many  things  they  witness  against  thee?"  Jesus  did 
not  answer  him  one  word,  so  that  the  governor 
marvelled  greatly  (Matt.  27:  13,  14).  Within  the  palace 
alone  with  Pilate,  Jesus  answered  his  question  with 
dignity  and  respect,  affirming  that  his  Kingdom  was  not 
of  this  world,  else  would  his  disciples  fight  that  he 
should  not  be  delivered  to  the  Jews;  affirming  also 
that  he  was  a  king  in  the  kingdom  of  truth,  adding  the 
personal  thrust :  "every  one  that  is  of  the  truth  heareth 
my  voice,"  which  strengthened  wavering  Pilate  for  a 
moment  (John  18:  36,  37).  Speaking  for  the  state, 
Pilate  went  out  and  announced  to  the  Jews:  "I  find 
no  crime  in  him."  But  the  urgent  voices  of  the  envious 
that  he  be  crucified  prevailed  over  the  judgment  of  the 
judge,  wishing  to  content  the  multitude. 

By  the  soldiers  of  the  state,  at  the  command  of  the 
reluctant  though  weak  and  favor-courting  Pilate,  Jesus 
was  scourged,  mocked,  spit  upon,  and  smitten  on  the 
head  with  a  reed.  After  such  cruel  indignities  Pilate, 
superstitious  and  fearful,  asked  Jesus,  "Whence  art 
thou?"  to  which  Jesus  gave  no  answer.  Then  Pilate 
asked,  "Knowest  thou  not  that  I  have  power  to  release 
thee,  and  have  power  to  crucify  thee?"  upon  which 
Jesus  reminded  him  that  he  would  have  no  power 

22 


JESUS  AND  THE  STATE 

against  Him,  except  it  were  given  him  from  above 
(John  19:  10,  ii ).  Pilate's  effort  to  conciliate  the  chief 
priests  being  in  vain,  when  he  might  have  freed  an 
innocent  man  by  a  word  of  authority,  he  delivered 
him  unto  them  to  be  crucified.  The  soldiers  of  the 
state  took  off  from  Jesus  the  royal  purple  wherein  in 
mockery  they  had  arrayed  him,  put  his  own  garments 
on  him,  and  led  him  away  to  crucify  him.  At  Golgotha 
they  offered  him  wine  mingled  with  myrrh,  but  he 
would  not  drink  it,  declining  to  meet  death  with  a  dim 
consciousness.  As  they  crucified  himr  Jesus  prayed  for 
their  forgiveness. 

With  his  own  hand  Pilate  wrote  the  accusation:  The 
"This  is  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  King  of  the  Jews,"  sug- 
gesting  his  line  of  defense,  should  the  matter  come  to 
Caesar's  ears,  though  thereby  giving  offense  to  the  chief 
priests.  The  soldiers  divided  his  garments  among  them, 
casting  lots  for  the  seamless  tunic ;  they  sat  and  watched 
him  there ;  they  also  mocked  him,  coming  to  him,  offer- 
ing him  vinegar,  and  saying,  in  imitation  of  the  chief 
priests,  rulers,  scribes,  and  elders:  "If  thou  art  the 
King  of  the  Jews,  save  thyself"  (Luke  23:  37). 

The  centurion  and  those  with  him  watching  Jesus,  The  Broken 
when  they  saw  how  he  gave  up  his  spirit,  testified:  Body 
"Certainly  this  was  a  righteous  man"  (Luke  23:  47). 
The  soldiers  did  not  need  to  break  the  legs  of  Jesus  to 
hasten  his  death,  he  being  dead  already  from  a  broken 
heart,  though  one  of  the  soldiers  with  a  spear  pierced 
his  side.     Pilate  granted  the  body  of  Jesus  to  Joseph 
of  Arimathea. 

At  the  request  of  the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees,  The  Guard 
the  entombed  body  of  Jesus  was  watched  by  a  guard  of  **** 
of  soldiers  set  by  Pilate,  who  were  later  bribed  to  say 
the  body  was  stolen  by  the  disciples.    "So  they  took  the 

23 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


His  Good 
Citizenship 


His 

Teaching 
Concerning 
the  State 


money,  and  did  as  they  were  taught"  (Matt.  28:  15), 
at  which  point  the  personal  association  of  Jesus  with 
the  civil  power  ceased,  though  his  spirit  is  still  trans- 
forming it. 

Here  was  a  life  begun,  continued,  and  ended  under  the 
influence  of  the  civil  state,  whose  fortunes  were  most 
intimately  interwoven  with  the  ruling,  though  unpro- 
tecting,  temporal  power,  whose  whole  attitude  was  one 
of  conformity  to  the  laws,  paying  the  taxes,  declining 
to  be  a  successor  of  the  Maccabees,  passing  no  con- 
demnation upon  the  machinery  of  government;  on  the 
contrary,  using  these  things  to  illustrate  spiritual  truths, 
thus  recognizing  their  place  in  life;  showing  respect 
to  the  office,  if  not  the  officer  of  the  government  in  the 
case  of  Herod;  winning  the  sympathy  of  Pilate;  sub- 
mitting without  other  than  moral  protest  to  the  mockery 
of  a  just  trial,  to  an  unjust  sentence  of  death,  even  to 
death  on  the  accursed  tree,  and  in  no  respect  failing 
as  a  subject  of  Rome.  It  were  vain  to  question  his 
good  citizenship. 

What  did  Jesus  teach  concerning  the  state?  That 
one  could  be  patriotic  and  religious  at  the  same  time 
without  necessary  conflict,  that  to  be  religious  one  does 
not  have  to  cease  rendering  tribute  unto  Caesar,  that 
to  be  patriotic,  one  does  not  have  to  cease  rendering 
unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's.  Some  things  are 
Caesar's  and  some  things  are  God's.  Each  set  of  duties 
is  to  be  fulfilled.  Jesus  apparently  carefully  avoided 
giving  offense  to  the  civil  powers  either  in  act  or  in 
word.  He  gives  no  direct  teaching  whatever  con- 
cerning the  state,  except  what  is  called  out  of  him  by 
an  entrapping  question,  though  his  answer  indicates 
definite  thought  and  conviction  on  the  subject.  As  so 
often,  St.  Paul  has  given  as  direction  what  might  be 

24 


JESUS  AND  THE  STATE 

taken  as  literal  description  of  the  life  of  Jesus:  "Put 
them  in  mind  to  be  in  subjection  to  rulers,  to  authori- 
ties" (Titus  3:1).  Unlike  Plato,  Jesus  was  neither  a 
theoretical  nor  a  practical  reformer  of  government, 
though,  through  the  might  of  the  new  spirit  he  released 
in  human  society,  the  Roman  government  within  three 
centuries  was  nominally  Christian. 


STUDY  IV 


The  Contact 
of  Jesus 
With  Wealth 


Money  a 
Frequent 
Theme  in 
His  Teaching 


JESUS  AND  WEALTH 

The  life  of  Jesus  brought  him  into  touch  with  a  num- 
ber of  men  of  wealth  and  enabled  him  to  observe  the 
influence  of  great  possessions  on  character.  Some  of 
the  disciples  themselves  were  not  without  means.  Peter 
owned  a  house  in  Capernaum  in  which  he  entertained 
the  Master.  Zebedee,  the  father  of  James  and  John, 
had  a  boat  with  nets  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee  and  hired 
servants.  After  the  crucifixion  Peter  and  six  other 
disciples  returned  to  their  fishing  boats  and  nets.  Jesus 
abode  one  day  at  the  house  of  Zaccheus,  "a  rich  man," 
and  commended  him  for  his  use  of  his  wealth,  only 
half  of  which  Zaccheus  retained.  His  friend  Lazarus, 
whom  he  loved,  had  a  home  in  Bethany,  and  his  sister 
Mary  made  a  costly  offering  to  Jesus.  Simon  the 
Pharisee  and  Simon  of  Bethany,  who  may  be  the  same, 
entertained  him  in  their  homes.  He  received  minis- 
trations from  the  substance  of  women  of  means,  Joanna 
and  Susanna  and  "many  others"  (Luke  8:3).  A  rich 
young  ruler  came  to  him  for  guidance  in  the  way  of 
life.  Nicodemus,  who  came  to  him  by  night  for  fear 
of  the  Jews,  brought  a  costly  offering  for  his  burial. 
And  Joseph,  a  rich  man  of  Arimathea,  begged  his 
crucified  body  from  Pilate.  So  Jesus  had  intimate  con- 
tact with  men  of  means. 

The  teaching  of  Jesus  abounds  in  references  to  money 
and  its  problems.  He  refers  to  those  gorgeously  ap- 
parelled and  living  delicately  in  kings'  houses.  He 
describes  Dives  as  clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen  and 

26 


JESUS  AND  WEALTH 

faring  sumptuously  every  day.  The  father  of  the 
Prodigal  Son  divides  his  living  between  him  and  the 
elder  brother.  This  parable  incidentally  shows  the 
misuse  of  money.  The  parable  of  the  Unjust  Steward 
teaches  the  prudent  use  of  money.  The  parables  of  the 
Talents  and  the  Pounds  use  financial  relations  to  illus- 
trate spiritual  ones.  Though  Jesus  and  the  disciples 
had  a  common  purse — probably  as  a  matter  of  con- 
venience, hardly  in  imitation  of  the  Pharisee  sect  of  the 
Essenes — one  of  his  parting  injunctions  to  the  disciples 
was:  "He  that  hath  a  purse,  let  him  take  it"  (Luke 
22:  36).  He  even  pronounces  woe  on  the  rich  and  the 
full  (Luke  6:  24,  25),  though  such  passages  must  be 
correlated  with  the  whole  of  his  teaching.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  money  and  its  problems  entered  largely  into 
the  content  of  his  teaching. 

Now  what  does  Jesus  teach  about  wealth?  A  num-  Source 
ber  of  things.  First,  as  to  the  source  of  wealth.  Both  ot  WeaWl 
the  talents  and  the  pounds — the  capital  with  which  they 
begin  business — are  conferred  upon  the  servants  by 
their  lord.  To  this  capital,  by  their  own  effort,  they 
make  additions.  It  was  the  ground  of  the  rich  man  that 
brought  forth  plentifully,  causing  him  to  pull  down  his 
barns  and  build  greater.  Money  is  referred  to  in  the 
parable  of  the  Unjust  Steward  as  "that  which  is  an- 
other's" (Luke  16:  12).  These  teachings  all  indicate 
that  the  effort  of  man  in  the  production  of  wealth  pre- 
supposes the  gift  of  God  in  initial  capacities  and  en- 
vironing opportunities.  Similarly  Jesus  taught  his 
disciples  to  pray  for  the  daily  bread  to  God,  who  also 
clothes  even  those  of  little  faith.  The  origin  of  wealth 
is  thus  human  effort  utilizing  the  gifts  of  God. 

Closely  connected  with  the  origin  of  wealth  is  the  Relative 

question   of  its  real  value.     "What  shall  it  profit  a  Xflu1cuof 

Wealth 
27 


man,"  asks  Jesus,  "if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose 
his  own  soul?  Or  what  shall  a  man  give  in  ex- 
change for  his  soul?"  (Mark  8:  36,  37).  One  must 
renounce  all  that  he  hath  to  follow  Jesus  (Luke  14: 
33),  including  "lands,"  as  Matthew,  James  and  John, 
and  Peter  and  Andrew  left  all  and  followed,  though 
such  shall  receive  a  hundredfold  now  in  this  time,  with 
persecutions  (Mark  10:  30).  The  rich  but  covetous 
young  ruler  must  sell  all  his  goods  and  give  to  the 
poor  and  then  come  and  follow.  A  man  is  of  more 
value  than  a  sheep  and  than  many  sparrows,  two  of 
which  are  sold  for  a  farthing.  Money  is  the  "very 
little"  in  which  we  may  prove  ourselves  faithful.  The 
treasures  of  earth  are  corruptible  by  moth  and  rust 
and  thieves;  those  of  heaven  are  incorruptible.  The 
Rich  Fool  made  the  mistake  of  laying  up  treasure  for 
himself  instead  of  being  rich  toward  God.  "A  man's 
life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  things  that  he 
possesseth"  (Luke  12:  15).  Seeing  the  newly  pur- 
chased field  or  proving  the  five  yoke  of  oxen  are  un- 
worthy excuses  for  slighting  the  invitation  to  the  sup- 
per. Going  to  one's  farm  or  one's  merchandise  instead 
of  to  the  marriage  feast  of  the  king's  son  makes  one 
unworthy  the  invitation.  A  fat  purse  is  no  compensa- 
tion for  a  lean  soul.  "The  life  is  more  than  food" 
(Matt.  6:  25).  "Make  for  yourselves  purses  which  wax 
not  old"  (Luke  12:  33).  It  is  evident  that  the  value 
of  money  to  Jesus  is  relative,  not  absolute.  However 
much  it  may  be  a  standard  of  physical  values,  to  him 
it  is  no  standard  of  spiritual  values.  He  does  not 
intimate  that  money  is  without  value,  but  only  that  it 
has  no  absolute  value. 

Some  Right  Since  money  does  have  a  relative  value,  to  what  uses 

Usei  of  Money    may  jt  property  be  put  ?    One  should  give  alms  to  the 

28 


JESUS  AND  WEALTH 

poor,  even  selling  what  one  has  for  the  purpose  (Luke 
12:  33);  support  one's  needy  parents  without  any 
subterfuge  of  Corban  (Mark  7:  n);  relieve  those  in 
distress  as  did  the  Good  Samaritan;  minister  to  the 
hungry,  thirsty,  and  naked,  as  do  the  righteous  as  pic- 
tured in  the  last  judgment;  buy  food  as  did  the  disciples 
in  the  Samaritan  city ;  cast  it  freely  and  generously  into 
the  treasury  as  did  the  widow  her  two  mites;  make 
friends  with  it  as  did  the  unjust  steward;  trade  with 
it  and  earn  its  double  for  the  master  as  did  the  faithful 
servants;  make  costly  offerings  in  devotion  not  neces- 
sarily utilitarian  in  character  as  did  Mary  (upon  whose 
precious  spikenard  the  pilfering  Judas  set  a  value  of 
about  fifty  dollars)  and  the  sinful  woman  in  anointing 
Jesus;  provide  hospitality,  as  did  Zaccheus,  Matthew, 
Simon,  and  Martha,  though  such  hospitality  will  not 
be  limited  to  those  who  can  repay;  provide  festal 
occasions,  as  the  wedding  in  Cana  and  the  wedding  sup- 
per of  the  king's  son,  and  the  supper  of  "a  certain  man," 
though  to  be  troubled  about  many  things  as  was  Martha 
is  not  commendable;  give  fish,  bread,  and  good  gifts 
to  one's  children;  and  render  unto  God  the  things 
that  are  God's,  as  did  the  widow,  the  ministering 
women,  and  the  good  and  righteous  Joseph.  The  uses 
of  money  are  thus  many  in  glorifying  God,  relieving 
the  estate  of  man,  and  increasing  the  pleasures  of  life. 
Jesus  nowhere  forbids  the  possession  of  money,  even 
the  accumulation  of  wealth,  provided  only  that  the 
eleven-talent  man,  who  has  profited  by  the  natural  law 
of  cumulative  results,  still  regards  himself  as  simply 
his  Lord's  steward  and  owing  what  he  owns.  "Trade 
ye  herewith  till  I  come"  (Luke  19:  13)  doubtless 
primarily  means,  "Put  to  use  all  your  God-given 
powers,"  it  being  part  of  the  parable  of  the  Pounds, 

29 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


Praise  of  the 

Economic 

Virtues 


Some 
Abuses  of 
Money 


though  secondarily  it  may  properly  mean  that  it  is  the 
Christian  duty  of  some  men  to  make  money,  to  finance 
the  Lord's  business  on  earth.  So  Jesus  was  fully  ap- 
preciative of  the  right  uses  of  money. 

Likewise  the  virtues  associated  with  honest  money- 
getting  receive  unstinted  praise  from  Jesus.  "Good 
and  faithful"  are  the  servants  who  use  the  banks  to 
,double  their  capital  in  talents  and  pounds.  "Wicked 
and  slothful"  is  the  servant  who  hid  his  lord's  money 
away  in  a  napkin.  Even  the  fragments  are  to  be 
gathered  up  after  a  company  of  five  thousand  is  fed, 
that  nothing  be  lost.  Being  faithful  in  the  unrighteous 
mammon  is  an  indication  of  fitness  to  receive  on  trust 
the  true  riches.  Being  unfaithful  in  the  little  matter 
of  money  belonging  to  another  indicates  unfitness  to 
receive  one's  own.  Even  promotion  and  demotion  in 
service  in  the  world  to  come  are  continuous  with  the 
qualities  of  goodness  and  faithfulness  or  wickedness 
and  slothfulness  displayed  in  the  handling  of  the  lord's 
money  during  his  absence.  Jesus  could  not  have  set 
higher  approval  upon  the  homely  virtues  of  thrift, 
industry,  honesty,  and  fidelity.  This  phase  of  his  teach- 
ing must  have  been  appreciated  by  a  people  like  the 
Jews  who  taught  every  youth  a  trade. 

Though  so  highly  appreciating  both  the  uses  of  money 
and  the  virtues  of  money-getting,  Jesus  did  not  fail 
to  recognize  its  grave  abuses  and  its  deadly  perils. 
Among  the  abuses  of  money  appear  these:  Keeping  it 
to  oneself,  as  did  Dives,  who  would  share  with  Lazarus 
only  the  crumbs  that  fell  from  his  table,  failing  thereby 
to  make  a  friend  who  would  receive  him  in  the  heavenly 
habitation,  as  also  did  the  Rich  Fool  who  communed 
only  with  his  own  soul;  giving  only  to  those  who  can 
repay  in  kind;  giving  even  to  the  Temple  instead  of  to 

30 


JESUS  AND  WEALTH 

one's  needy  parents;  parading  one's  gifts  before  men, 
sounding  the  trumpet  as  one  gives,  instead  of  not  let- 
ting the  left  hand  know  what  the  right  hand  doeth; 
even  punctilious  tithing  of  mint,  anise,  and  cummin, 
coupled  with  neglect  of  the  weightier  matters  of  the 
law;  and  failure  to  put  it  to  use. 

The  deadly  perils  of  monsy  Jesus  recognized  in  some  Perils  of 
of  his  most  striking  teachings.  "The  deceitfulness  of  Wealtl> 
riches"  chokes  the  word  as  thorns  the  good  seed  by 
the  wayside.  "Take  heed  and  beware  of  covetousness" 
(Luke  12:  15),  says  Jesus,  uncovering  the  motive  be- 
hind the  request  that  he  divide  an  inheritance.  They 
that  put  their  trust  in  riches  can  hardly  enter  the  King- 
dom. Farms,  merchandise,  and  oxen  may  stand  in 
the  way  of  attending  the  king's  marriage  supper.  You 
cannot  serve  God  and  mammon,  though  it  is  possible 
to  serve  God  and  make  mammon  serve  you.  And,  with 
Oriental  hyperbole,  it  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through 
the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  Recall  here  that  Abraham,  a  rich 
man,  received  Lazarus  in  bliss.  Woe  is  pronounced 
upon  the  rich  because  they,  like  Dives,  have  received 
their  consolation.  The  trouble  with  the  Rich  Young 
Ruler,  who  went  away  sorrowing  from  the  source  of 
the  eternal  life  which  also  he  would  inherit,  was  that 
he  did  not  own  his  great  possessions,  they  owned 
him,  and  he  was  unable  to  renounce  his  slavery.  Treas- 
ures are  to  be  laid  up  in  heaven,  not  on  earth,  for 
where  the  treasure  is,  there  is  the  heart  also.  Money 
is  to  Jesus,  because  of  its  seductiveness,  "the  unright- 
eous mammon"  and  "the  mammon  of  unrighteousness." 
Luke,  the  evangelist  who  especially  discredits  wealth, 
writes  in  the  Magnificat:  "And  the  rich  he  hath  sent 
empty  away"  (Luke  i:  53). 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


Summary 


Some  Things 
Jeaus  Did 
not  Do 


To  summarize  the  results  of  our  study,  Jesus,  being 
acquainted  with  men  of  wealth  and  the  influence  of 
wealth  on  men,  recognized  God  as  the  ultimate  source 
of  wealth,  which  could  be  increased  by  human  enter- 
prise; appreciated  the  great  but  subordinate  value  of 
wealth ;  indicated  its  proper  uses ;  praised  its  associated 
virtues;  pointed  out  its  abuses;  and  warned  against  its 
perils  to  the  souls  of  men.  Wealth  to  Jesus  was  a 
thing  of  power,  not  to  be  held,  hoarded,  prized,  or  ex- 
pended luxuriously  for  self,  but  to  be  received  as  from 
above,  increased,  put  to  good  use  as  a  means  to  spirit- 
ual ends,  as  by  a  good  and  faithful  steward  who  should 
render  an  account  of  his  lord's  money. 

Some  things  that  Jesus  did  not  do  are :  he  never  dis- 
cussed the  modern  topic  of  the  economic  theory  of  the 
state,  though  at  least  three  occasions  were  suitable  for 
so  doing,  namely,  the  question  of  the  tribute  to  Caesar, 
paying  the  temple  tax,  and  dividing  the  inheritance; 
he  never  commanded  community  of  goods,  though  he 
and  the  disciples  kept  a  common  purse  as  a  matter 
of  convenience,  but  some  disciples,  like  Joseph  of 
Arimathea,  did  not  share  in  it,  and  the  later  Jerusalem 
Church  had  all  things  in  common  for  a  time  as  a  mat- 
ter of  voluntary  devotion — a  custom  not  followed  in 
the  other  churches,  which  in  fact  left  the  saints  in 
Jerusalem  dependent  (Acts  n:  29,  30);  he  never  de- 
nied the  right  of  private  ownership,  but  evidently  took 
it  for  granted,  using  as  illustrations  the  householder 
planting  a  vineyard  and  leasing  it,  and  a  certain  noble- 
man going  into  a  far  country  to  receive  a  kingdom 
for  himself ;  he  never  denied  one's  right  to  possessions, 
though  enjoining  their  renunciation  (*'.  e.  willingness 
to  release  them  for  the  Kingdom's  sake)  upon  all,  and 
in  one  case  at  least  urging  their  voluntary  surrender 

32 


JESUS  AND  WEALTH 

for  sale  and  gifts  to  the  poor;  he  never  condemned 
wealth  as  such  nor  a  rich  man  because  of  his  wealth, 
but  only  because  of  his  misuse  of  it;  and  he  never 
divided  men  into  the  contrasting  and  antagonistic 
classes  of  rich  and  poor,  but  only  into  the  wise  and 
foolish,  the  whole  and  sick,  the  righteous  and  sinners. 
But  it  would  also  be  a  mistake  to  say  that  he  forbade 
communism,  collectivism,  or  any  specific  form  of  eco- 
nomic production  and  distribution.  He  was  concerned 
in  cultivating  free  spirits  and  in  making  the  souls  of 
men  rich  toward  God,  trusting  these  to  find  the  eco- 
nomic system  best  expressive  of  universal  brotherly 
love. 


His  Life  and 
Poverty 

The  Offering 
at  the 
Presentation 


Modest 
Means  in 

Nazareth 


A  Simple 
Lif o  Witfc- 
out  Money 
Beyond 
KM* 


J 


STUDY  V 
JESUS  AND  POVERTY 


In  what  relations  did  the  life  of  Jesus  stand  to  the 
goods  of  this  world?  When  in  his  infancy  his  parents 
presented  him  to  the  Lord  in  the  Temple  according  to 
the  law  of  Moses,  their  offering  was  not  the  lamb  and 
turtledove,  or  pigeon,  regularly  prescribed  for  those 
who  could  afford  it,  but  a  pair  of  turtledoves,  or  two 
young  pigeons,  indicating  that  their  means  sufficed  not 
for  a  lamb. 

Joseph's  trade  was  that  of  a  carpenter,  which  was 
given  to  Jesus  in  turn.  Thus  the  living,  independent, 
though  doubtless  simple,  was  made  in  the  Nazareth 
home.  Jesus  was  educated  in  letters  in  the  village  syna- 
gogue, and  thereafter  was  self-taught.  The  family 
apptared  at  a  wedding  in  the  neighboring  town  of  Cana, 
some  f«ur  miles  northerly  from  Nazareth,  and  later 
moved  to  Capernaum,  some  twenty  miles  away,  sug- 
gesting some  freedom  of  movement.  We  do  not  know 
whether  Mary  wove  for  Jesus  his  seamless  robe. 

As  the  firstborn,  he  would  receive  by  inheritance  the 
largest  share  of  Joseph's  property,  which,  however,  he 
doubtless  left  behind  him  on  beginning  his  public  work. 
From  the  cross  he  committed  his  mother  to  John,  but 
mo  pr6perry  to  her.  As  the  disciples  had  a  common 
bag  or  box  for  their  money,  he  probably  carried  no 
money  on  his  person.  He  said,  "Shew  me  a  penny" 
(Luke  20:  24),  not  taking  the  tribute  money  or  the 
temple-tax  of  the  half-shekel  from  his  pocket.  The 

34 


JliUS  AND  POVERTY 

disciples  drew  from  the  common  purse  to  purchase  the 
necessities  of  life  and  to  give  alms  to  the  poor.  At 
the  time  of  paying  the  temple  tax  of  the  half-shekel, 
or  thirty-two  cents,  there  was  evidently  not  so  much 
in  the  bag,  and  Peter  was  sent  back  to  his  old  occupa- 
tion as  fisherman  for  it.  At  the  time  of  feeding  the 
five  thousand,  two  hundred  penny-worth  of  bread,  about 
thirty-four  dollars,  seemed  an  incredible  amount  to  the 
disciples. 

The  company  was  the  recipient  of  gifts  of  money, 
not  as  mendicants  or  objects  of  charity,  but  as  the  hire 
for  their  spiritual  labor  and  for  distributing  to  the 
needy.  It  was  clearly  a  matter  of  choice,  not  of  neces- 
sity, that  the  Son  of  Man  had  not  where  to  lay  his 
head.  Jesus  was  hungry  at  Jacob's  well,  but  meat 
at  the  time  was  being  purchased;  again  he  was  hungry 
before  the  barren  fig-tree,  but  there  is  no  indication 
that  means  of  satisfaction  were  unavailable.  We  have 
seen  that  Jesus  had  well-to-do  friends  who  were  only 
too  glad  to  extend  him  their  hospitality,  of  which,  too, 
he  availed  himself.  His  disciple  John  was  known  to 
the  high  priest.  Some  one,  possibly  Zebedee,  the  father 
of  two  of  the  disciples,  kept  a  boat  awaiting  his  con- 
venience while  preaching  near  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  A 
friend,  or  friends,  in  Jerusalem  provided  him  with  an 
ass  on  Palm  Sunday,  with  a  lodging  with  his  disciples 
during  the  last  week  of  his  life,  and  with  an  upper 
room  in  which  to  keep  the  passover,  for  which,  how- 
ever, the  common  purse  purchased  the  supplies.  He 
was  buried  in  the  tomb  of  a  rich  friend.  Here  was  a 
life  simple  both  in  fact  and  from  choice,  not  possessed 
of  riches  nor  yet  one  of  grinding  poverty. 

What  of  poverty  did  Jesus  see  in  the  lives  of  others?   Scene* of 
His  soul  was  moved  at  the  sight  of  the  scribes  devour- 

35 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


Meaning  of 
"the  Poor" 


The  Com- 
passion of 
Jesus  for 
the  Poor 


ing  widows'  houses,  even  while  for  a  pretence  mak- 
ing long  prayers.  He  saw  true  generosity  in  the  poor 
widow  casting  all  her  living  into  the  treasury.  The 
blind  beggars  of  Jericho  received  his  healing  sympathy. 
The  blind,  the  lame,  the  deaf,  the  lepers,  the  paralytics, 
whom  he  healed  were  probably  also  poor  in  this  world's 
goods,  not  being  able  under  existent  social  conditions 
to  earn  their  way.  The  woman  with  the  issue  of  blood 
had  vainly  spent  all  that  she  had.  So  Jesus  knew 
about  the  poor  and  their  social  and  natural  hardships, 
coupled  as  these  often  were  with  physical  misfor- 
tunes. Afflicted  Lazarus  in  the  parable  may  have  been 
a  real  character. 

What  did  Jesus  teach  concerning  poverty?  It  may 
be  said  at  the  outset  that  when  Jesus  refers  to  "the 
poor"  he  uses  the  term  primarily  in  a  spiritual,  and  only 
secondarily  in  an  economic  sense,  and  that  the  term 
when  used  in  the  economic  sense  is  not  equivalent  to 
"penurious,"  but  includes  all  persons  who  have  no  more 
than  they  need.  Jesus  found  the  Jewish  economic  poor 
with  hearts  open  toward  God,  in  fact,  as  a  class,  "poor 
in  spirit."  "The  poor"  of  the  gospels  thus  stand  in 
a  double  contrast,  first,  spiritually,  with  their  formally 
religious  and  really  oppressive  leaders,  and,  second, 
economically,  with  the  wealthy,  who  had  grossly  abused 
their  privileges  to  deserve  such  criticisms  as  Jesus 
passed  upon  them. 

The  first  thing  to  note  is  that  Jesus,  himself  not 
wealthy,  coming  with  a  message  of  love  and  brother- 
hood for  all,  having  been  brought  up  among  the  poor, 
was  always  moved  with  compassion  at  the  sight  of  the 
hungry  multitude  which  was  not  sure  of  its  next  meal, 
always  ministered  to  their  needs  both  individually  and 
collectively,  always  spoke  with  great  tenderness  of  them 

36 


JESUS  AND  POVERTY 

and  to  them,  even  when  rebuking  them  for  following 
him  for  the  loaves  and  fishes. 

To  Jesus  it  was  the  divine  seal  of  his  ministry  that  The  Gospel 
the  poor  had  the  Gospel  preached  to  them,  not  that  the  for  **  Poor 
good  tidings  were  for  any  social  class  exclusively.  He 
began  his  ministry  in  Nazareth  with  the  text  from 
Isaiah :  "The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  he 
anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  to  the  poor :  he  hath 
sent  me  to  proclaim  release  to  the  captives,  and  re- 
covering of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them 
that  are  bruised,  to  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the 
Lord"  (Luke  4:  18,  19).  The  burden  of  his  sermon 
on  this  text  was :  "To-day  hath  this  scripture  been  ful- 
filled in  your  ears"  (Luke  4:  21).  The  Gospel  was 
not  too  good  for  the  poor  and  the  poor  were  not  too 
bad  for  the  Gospel. 

When  John  the  Forerunner  was  in  prison  and  heard  The 
the  works  of  Jesus,  realizing  that  Jesus  was  not  in  fact  ^CTS^* 
thoroughly  cleansing  his  threshing-floor,  fan  in  hand, 
gathering  the  wheat,  and  burning  up  the  chaff,  that  he 
was  in  fact  not  at  all  a  figure  of  violence  but  of  gentle- 
ness, John's  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  prophesied  Messiah 
wavered.  He  called  two  of  his  disciples  to  him,  for 
he  was  not  in  close  confinement  in  the  prison  of 
Machaerus,  and  sent  them  to  Jesus  with  the  question: 
"Art  thou  he  that  cometh,  or  look  we  for  another?" 
(Luke  7:  19).  These  messengers  found  Jesus  in  the 
act  of  curing  many  of  diseases,  plagues,  evil  spirits, 
and  blindness.  He  answered  their  question  not  cate- 
gorically but  characteristically,  guiding  thereby  John's 
thinking  to  his  own  conclusion,  and  again  associating 
the  Gospel  with  the  poor:  "Go  and  tell  John  what 
things  ye  have  seen  and  heard;  the  blind  receive  their 
sight,  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the 

37 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

deaf  hear,  the  dead  are  raised  up,  the  poor  have  good 
tidings  preached  to  them.  And  blessed  is  he,  whosoever 
shall  find  no  occasion  of  stumbling  in  me"  (Luke  7: 
22,  23).  The  incident  profoundly  affected  Jesus,  as 
his  words  to  the  multitudes  following  the  departure  of 
John's  messengers  show.  He  was  continuing  to  exem- 
plify his  Nazareth  sermon,  leading  to  his  rejection  there. 
He  was  moved  to  think  John  too  might  stumble;  "he 
that  is  but  little  in  the  kingdom  of  God  is  greater 
than  he"  (Luke  7:  28).  Unfortunately  we  are  not  told 
John's  conclusion,  if  any,  before  his  beheading. 

Since  the  Gospel  was  for  the  poor  and  sinners,  not 
for  those  who  received  their  consolation  in  wealth  and 
for  the  self-righteous,  it  is  not  surprising  that  specially 
urgent  invitations  are  sent  out  to  the  poor,  who  had 
not  regarded  themselves  as  worthy  to  come  to  the 
gospel  feast.  "Go  ye  therefore  unto  the  partings  of 
the  highways,  and  as  many  as  ye  shall  find,  bid  to  the 
marriage  feast"  (Matt.  22 :  9).  The  invitation  extended 
by  Jesus  himself  is:  "Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest"  (Matt. 
n:  28).  These  are  the  poor,  not  merely  of  the  op- 
pressed body  but  of  the  oppressed  spirit,  weighted  with 
Pharisaic  legalism. 

As  Jesus  pronounced  woe  on  the  rich  and  the  full 
who  are  satisfied,  so  he  pronounced  blessing  on  the 
poor  and  the  hungry  who  are  not  satisfied,  either  in 
body  or  in  spirit.  Luke,  the  beloved  physician,  whose 
labors  brought  him  into  intimate  contact  with  the  needs 
of  the  poor,  stresses  the  physical  poverty  and  hunger; 
Matthew,  the  man  of  affairs,  on  whom  the  Beatitudes 
made  an  even  profounder  impression,  stresses  the 
spiritual  poverty  and  hunger.  Says  Luke :  "Blessed  are 
ye  poor,"  "Blessed  are  ye  that  hunger  now,"  "Blessed 

38 


JESUS  AND  POVERTY 

are  ye  that  we«p  now"  (Luke  6:  20,  ai).  Says  Mat- 
thew: "Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,"  "Blessed  are 
they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness," 
"Blessed  are  they  that  mourn"  (Matt.  5:  3,  4,  6). 
Luke  is  more  specific,  Matthew  more  general.  The  two 
sides  go  together,  as  body  and  mind.  There  is  no  praise 
of  poverty  for  its  own  sake,  as  there  is  no  condemnation 
of  riches  as  such.  These  blessings  on  the  poor  stand 
in  contrast  with  the  characteristic  attitude  of  the  chief 
priests  and  Pharisees:  "This  multitude  that  knoweth 
not  the  law  are  accursed"  (John  7:  49). 

Why  did  Jesus  pronounce  blessings  on  the  poor?  Reasons 

Because  theirs  is  the  Kingdom  of  heaven.    Because  it   toT  Blessln« 

the  Poor 
was  easier  for  them  not  to  lay  up  treasures  on  earth 

and  just  as  easy  at  least  for  them  to  lay  up  treasures 
in  heaven.  Because,  having  little,  they  were  not  tempted 
to  give  anxious  thought  to  eating,  drinking,  and  wearing 
apparel,  but  were  able  sincerely  to  pray  day  by  day  for 
sufficient  bread.  Because  they  were  not  tempted  to 
put  their  trust  in  riches,  and  could  not  suffer  from  the 
deceitfulness  of  that  which  they  did  not  possess.  Hav- 
ing no  mammon  to  serve,  they  find  it  easier  to  serve 
God.  Escaping  the  perils  of  wealth,  they  do  not  have 
to  pass  through  the  needle's  eye,  which  the  rich  young 
ruler  was  unable  to  do.  But  their  estate  has  its  own 
temptations,  not  indeed  peculiar  to  it,  in  envy  and  covet- 
ousness.  When  one  out  of  the  multitude  asked  him: 
"Teacher,  bid  my  brother  divide  the  inheritance  with 
me"  (Luke  12:  13),  he  not  only  declined,  not  having 
been  appointed  to  that  work,  but  said  unto  them :  "Take 
heed  and  keep  yourselves  from  all  covetousness ;  for 
even  in  a  man's  abundance  his  life  is  not  from  the 
things  which  he  possesseth"  (Luke  12:15,  margin). 
Repeatedly  Jesus  commands  that  alms  be  given  to 
39 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

the  poor.  These  poor  were  usually  afflicted  in  some 
way  and  in  those  days  unable  to  earn  a  living,  though 
we  cannot  be  sure  that  this  was  always  the  case.  "Give 
to  him  that  asketh  thee"  is  the  general  direction  for 
those  simple  days  which  knew  not  the  work  of  asso- 
ciated charities — "the  condensed  milk  of  human  kind- 
ness," as  they  have  been  called — and  the  gift  of  one- 
self, one's  services,  is  still  necessary.  "Lend,  never 
despairing,"  he  says  (Luke  6:35).  "From  him  that 
would  borrow  of  thee  turn  not  thou  away"  (Matt. 
5:42).  "Distribute  unto  the  poor"  (Luke  18:22)  was 
the  personal  instruction  given  to  the  rich  young  man, 
following  upon  his  selling  all  that  he  had.  A  part  of  the 
conversation  between  Jesus  and  this  rich  young  ruler  as 
it  has  survived  in  a  fragment  of  "The  Gospel  of  the 
Hebrews"  is:1 

"And  the  Lord  said  unto  him:  How  canst  thou  say 
I  have  kept  the  law  and  the  prophets,  as  it  is  written 
in  the  law,  Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself?  Behold, 
many  of  thy  brethren,  sons  of  Abraham,  lie  in  dirty 
rags  and  die  of  hunger,  and  thy  house  is  full  of  many 
goods,  and  nothing  comes  out  of  it  to  them." 

The  Jesus  and  the  disciples  were  themselves  as  a  com- 

oflkas*  pany  accustomed  to  give  something  to  the  poor  from 

their  common  fund.  At  least  Judas,  the  pilfering  treas- 
urer of  the  company,  complained  at  the  anointing  of 
Jesus  by  Mary  that  the  ointment  was  not  sold  for  a 
sum  equivalent  to  about  fifty  dollars  and  given  to  the 
poor.  Likewise,  when  Jesus  told  Judas  to  do  quickly 
what  he  had  planned  to  do,  some  thought  he  should  give 
something  to  the  poor.  The  company  of  the  disciples 
thus  set  the  example  of  the  giving,  as  well  as  the  out- 
giving, life.  There  is  no  record  of  Jesus  individually 
1  Quoted  from  Harnack,  "What  is  Christianity?"  p.  107,  N.  Y.,  1902. 
40 


JESUS  AND  POVERTY 

having  given  alms.  His  individual  treatment  of  afflicted 
persons,  restoring  their  lost  powers,  made  the  unfor- 
tunate recipient  of  alms  no  longer  dependent.  Such 
relief  was  not  the  prolongation  of  misery,  but  its 
abrogation. 

Special  rewards  attend  giving.  "Give,  and  it  shall  Reward 
be  given  unto  you;  good  measure,  pressed  down,  forAlms 
shaken  together,  running  over,  shall  they  give  into 
your  bosom"  (Luke  6:  38).  Here  is  a  superabundant 
return  for  giving.  "Freely  ye  have  received,  freely 
give,"  he  says  (Matt.  10:  8).  That  Jesus  stressed  such 
ministration  is  further  indicated  by  the  fact  that  his 
only  scriptural  saying  not  in  the  gospels,  preserved 
by  Paul,  touches  this  point :  "It  is  more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive"  (Acts  20:  35).  This  saying  suggests 
some  sense  of  peril  in  receiving,  as  the  warnings 
against  ostentatious  giving  suggest  its  peril,  too. 

Such  giving  is  plainly  from  a  brother  to  a  brother  Hospitality 
in  need,  and  not  at  all  from  a  superior  to  an  inferior.  to  &*  Poor 
Not  merely  alms  are  to  be  given  but  hospitality  is  to 
be  extended  to  the  poor  and  unfortunate.  "But  when 
thou  makest  a  feast,  bid  the  poor,  the  maimed,  the  lame, 
and  the  blind"  (Luke  14:  13),  the  recompense  for  which 
comes  not  from  those  served  but  in  the  resurrection  of 
the  just,  at  which  time  the  sheep  and  the  goats  are 
separated  by  the  exclusively  practical  test  of  ministry 
and  hospitality  to  the  hungry,  thirsty,  naked,  sick,  im- 
prisoned, and  strangers.  The  wealth  of  imagery 
lavished  on  the  scene  of  the  last  judgment  indicates 
that  such  giving  of  self  in  service  to  the  poor,  needy, 
and  unfortunate  is  not  an  incident  of  the  Gospel,  but 
is  of  its  essence. 

Jesus  unquestionably  felt  drawn  to  the  lower  classes,   NO  Condoning 
who  heard  him  gladly,  in  tender  sympathy  and  loving  Economic  Vices 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

deed*.  Yet  in  his  teaching  there  is  not  one  word  of 
encouragement  to  idleness,  shiftlessness,  mendicancy, 
or  pauperism.  "Why  stand  ye  here  all  the  day  idle?" 
asks  the  householder  of  laborers  in  the  market-place 
(Matt.  20:  6).  The  repeatedly  commended  "good  and 
faithful  servants"  possess  the  homely  economic  virtues. 
The  "slothful"  servant  is  also  "wicked."  The  disciples 
of  Jesus  were  mainly  workingmen. 

Those  who  see  in  the  Gospel  a  condemnation  of  all 
wealth  as  such  and  the  glorification  of  poverty  as  such 
curiously  trip  over  words  and  miss  the  spirit  of  the 
whole  as  revealed  in  the  things  Jesus  did.  Though  "ye 
have  the  poor  with  you  always,  and  whensoever  ye  will 
ye  can  do  them  good"  (Mark  14:  7),  poverty  as  a 
state  is  not  something  to  be  acquiesced  in  or  to  glory 
in,  but  it  requires  relief  through  compassion,  alms,  and 
personal  service.  Nothing  should  come  between  us  and 
the  Kingdom,  not  even  wec!ch  and  its  luxuries;  noth- 
ing can  come  between  us  and  the  Kingdom,  not  even 
poverty  and  its  deprivations.  Wealth  should  not, 
poverty  need  not,  hinder  our  entrance,  into  the  King- 
dom. Wealth  is  no  curse,  nor  poverty;  poverty  is  no 
blessing,  nor  wealth.  The  advantage,  however,  is  with 
poverty,  as  its  perils  to  the  soul  are  fewer  and  its  con- 
ditions favorable  to  the  reception  of  the  good  news  of 
the  Father's  providential  care  and  of  human  love  and 
brotherhood. 

The  seventy  evangelists  sent  forth  by  Jesus  were  in- 
structed: "Get  you  no  gold,  nor  silver,  nor  brass  in 
your  girdles"  (Matt.  10:  9).  "Carry  no  purse,"  says 
Luke.  They  were  to  throw  themselves  upon  the  hos- 
pitality of  the  neighboring  villages,  as  spiritual  laborers 
worthy  of  their  hire  and  living  by  the  Gospel  they  pro- 
claimed. They  could  count  on  being  favorably  re- 

42 


JESUS  AND  POVERTY 

ccived.  In  contrast,  in  the  farewell  conversation,  he 
said :  "When  I  sent  you  forth  without  purse,  and  wallet, 
and  shoes  lacked  ye  anything?  And  they  said,  Noth- 
ing. And  he  said  unto  them,  But  now,  he  that  hath 
a  purse,  let  him  take  it  and  likewise  a  wallet"  (Luke 
22:  35,  36).  In  this  he  suggested  the  times  of  persecu- 
tion ahead,  following  his  being  reckoned  with  the 
transgressors,  when  they  could  no  longer  count  on  a 
hospitable  hearing.  That  is,  the  Christian  evangelists 
carry  no  purse,  or  purse,  according  to  the  requirements 
of  the  situation.  Thus  there  was  no  general  rule  about 
money  for  the  primitive  evangelists,  except  that  they 
would  not  have  money  beyond  their  need.  Likewise 
Christians,  giving  and  lending  freely,  not  owners  but 
stewards  and  administrators  of  money,  naturally  do 
not  possess  money  beyond  their  reasonable  needs.  For 
Judas,  there  was  more  money  in  betraying  than  in 
following  his  Master. 

In  conclusion,  concerning  poverty,  Jesus  teaches  that  Summary 
the  Gospel  is  for  the  poor,  too,  who  as  sinners  feel 
their  need  of  it;  the  poor  are  especially  urged  to  at- 
tend the  gospel  feast;  blessings  are  pronounced  on  the 
poor,  because  of  the  easy  accessibility  of  the  Gospel 
to  them;  alms  and  friendly  and  unselfish  hospitality 
are  to  be  given  to  the  poor  and  unfortunate;  the  poor, 
however,  are  not  encouraged  to  consent  to  their  poverty, 
put  a  premium  upon  it,  and  make  a  luxury  of  it ;  poverty 
is  as  such  neither  a  blessing  nor  a  curse;  and  money 
for  ministers  and  other  followers  of  Christ  will  not  be 
possessed  beyond  need.  Evidently  the  teaching  of  Jesus 
contains  no  social  program  for  the  suppression  of 
poverty  and  distress;  no  remedial  legislation  is  specifi- 
cally proposed;  it  contains  only  the  living  germ  of  all 
social  reform — love,  helpfulness,  and  brotherhood. 

43 


STUDY  VI 


The  An- 
nouncement 
of  the  Nativ- 
ity to  the 
Shepherds 


The  Carpen- 
ter's Family 
in  Nazareth 


The  Work 
of  Mary 


JESUS  AND  LABOR 

How  was  the  life  of  Jesus  related  to  labor? 

With  appropriate  poetic  imagination,  Luke,  sensing 
the  lowliness  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  presents  us  the  pic- 
ture of  an  angel  of  the  Lord  announcing  the  birth  of 
Jesus  to  shepherds  in  the  field,  keeping  watch  by  night 
over  their  flock.  The  good  tidings  of  great  joy  were 
for  all  the  people.  The  lowly  sign  was  a  babe  wrapped 
in  swaddling  clothes  and  lying  in  a  manger.  To  the 
same  company  of  shepherds  about  their  task,  perhaps 
that  of  providing  sacrificial  animals  for  the  temple  serv- 
ice, the  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host  sang  of  peace  on 
earth  among  men  of  good  will.  That  peace  was  un- 
limited, and  might  well  include  freedom  from  industrial 
as  well  as  political  warfare. 

It  was  a  laborer's  family  into  which  Jesus  was  born. 
Joseph  was  the  carpenter  of  the  village  of  Nazareth. 
Joseph  must  have  been  the  kind  of  man,  giving  good 
gifts  to  his  children,  to  make  it  easy  for  Jesus  to  think 
of  God  as  Father.  To  his  neighbors  he  was  known  as 
a  righteous,  considerate,  and  unpretentious  man. 

Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  highly  favored  of  God, 
pious,  earnest,  and  reflective,  was  doubtless  an  indus- 
trious and  otherwise  suitable  helpmeet  for  Joseph. 
Judging  by  the  later  teachings  of  Jesus,  some  of  the 
things  he  may  have  seen  Mary  doing  are :  sweeping 
diligently  for  a  lost  coin,  putting  leaven  in  three  meas- 
ures of  meal,  grinding  grain  with  the  small  mill  of  two 

44 


JESUS  AND  LABOR 

stones  with  the  assistance  of  another  woman,  bringing 
forth  things  both  new  and  old,  selecting  old  cloth  to 
cover  holes  in  old  garments,  lighting  the  candle  and 
putting  it  on  the  stand,  and  perhaps  even  rejoicing  that 
a  man-child  was  born  into  the  world.  It  was  an  in- 
dustrious, perhaps  frugal,  home. 

Reared  in  a  laborer's  home,  Jesus  himself  became  a  Jesus  as 
laborer,  adopting  Joseph's  trade  of  carpenter,  and  be-  Carpenter 
coming  himself  in  time  the  well-known  village  car- 
penter.   And  a  carpenter  he  remained  for  some  eigh- 
teen years  after   saying  that   he   must  be   about   his 
Father's  business,  thereby  suggesting  that  honest  toil, 
coupled  with  self-improvement,  is  a  part  of  the  Father's 
business. 

At  about  the  age  of  thirty  Jesus  ceased  to  be  a  manual  The  Public 
worker  and  became  a  spiritual  worker,  for  the  short  Workof 
remaining  fragment  of  his  life,  something  less  than 
three  years.  He  did  not  cease  to  labor,  he  only  changed 
the  field  of  his  labor.  Though  no  longer  practicing 
carpentry,  he  did  not  drop  the  carpenter's  habit  of 
mind,  but  continued  to  speak  of  corner-stones,  founda- 
tions on  rock  and  sand,  beams  and  motes,  ploughs  and 
yokes,  building  towers,  counting  the  cost,  how  people 
spent  the  time  building  in  the  days  of  Noah  before  the 
flood,  and  how  he  would  build  his  Church  upon  the 
rock  of  such  faith  as  Peter's.  The  Gospel  is  a  car- 
penter's call. 

Something  of  the  economic  sense  developed  during  xh« 
the  many  years  of  manual  labor  continued  during  the  Economic 
few  years  of  spiritual  labor.    Twice,  after  the  exhibition 
of  the  greatest  profusion  of  simple  food  in  feeding  mul- 
titudes of  four  and  five  thousand  men,  besides  women 
and  children,  he  commanded :  "Gather  up  the  fragments 
that  remain,  that  nothing  be  lost"  (John  6:  12),  thus 

45 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THKM 


His  Practical 
Turn  of  Mind 


Jesus 
Learned  of 
Labor  from 
Observation 


Illustrations 
from  Agri- 
culture 


saving  from  waste  at  one  time  twelve  and  at  another 
time  seven  baskets  full.  To  what  useful  purpose  these 
were  put  we  do  not  know. 

It  may  not  be  going  too  far  to  say  that  in  his  spirit- 
ual labor  Jesus  exhibited  a  quality  of  reality,  directness, 
freshness,  with  aphoristic  and  epigrammatic  statement, 
commonly  found  in  workers  with  things  rather  than  in 
workers  with  words.  In  his  case  there  is  wealth  of 
meaning  in  few  words  instead  of  dearth  of  meaning  in 
many  words.  A  bookish  man  who  had  not  shaped 
things  with  his  muscles  would  surely  have  been  less 
original  and  less  radical  than  Jesus.  The  fact  that 
Jesus  for  so  long  had  done  things  in  wood  no  doubt 
assisted  him  in  doing  things  in  religion. 

But,  of  course,  Jesus  learned  much  about  labor  and 
its  many  fields  from  observation  of  the  life  about  him, 
in  addition  to  that  knowledge  accumulated  by  personal 
experience.  It  has  been  estimated  that  of  the  nearly 
three  years  in  the  public  labor  of  Jesus,  only  fifteen 
different  months  are  referred  to  by  the  gospel  writers, 
and  of  these  fifteen  months,  only  thirty-five  different 
days  altogether  are  indicated.  Evidently  only  a  small 
fragment  of  the  deeds  and  words  of  Jesus  have  come 
down  to  us.  Yet,  if  we  look  into  the  content  of  this 
fragment  of  his  teaching  for  evidence  of  his  knowledge 
of  the  facts  of  labor,  we  shall  probably  be  surprised  at 
the  amount  of  it. 

Of  all  the  current  occupations  of  his  time,  he  makes 
most  frequent  reference  to  agriculture,  after  which 
follow  in  order  commerce,  industry,  and  brain-work. 
Perhaps  this  order  roughly  reflects  the  relative  size  of 
these  occupations  in  his  day.  Among  his  illustrations 
drawn  from  agriculture,  or  closely  related  pursuits,  are 
the  sower;  the  vineyard,  including  the  hedge  and  the 

46 


JESUS  AND  LABOR 

winepress;  the  field  containing  a  hid  treasure;  two 
men  in  the  field;  a  man  going  to  his  farm;  laborers 
waiting  to  be  employed ;  the  porter  watching ;  the  wheat 
and  the  tares;  old  and  new  wine-skins;  the  dying 
grain  of  wheat;  the  vine  and  its  branches;  the  two 
sons  in  the  vineyard;  planting  in  the  days  of  Noah; 
the  servant  ploughing  or  keeping  sheep;  the  good 
shepherd;  the  lost  sheep;  the  sheepfold;  the  hireling; 
the  fertilizing  dung-hill ;  the  ox  or  ass  in  the  well ;  the 
barren  fig-tree;  the  cumbering  fig-tree;  the  budding 
fig-tree;  the  harvest  plenteous;  the  fields  white;  the 
laborers  few;  reaping  and  receiving  wages;  the  tree 
and  its  corresponding  fruit;  the  blade,  the  ear,  and 
the  corn;  the  mustard  seed,  repeatedly  used;  drinking 
old  wine;  the  hand  to  the  plough;  the  easy  yoke;  the 
light  burden ;  the  fertile  land  of  the  rich  fool ;  the  fruit 
of  the  vine ;  the  hen  and  her  brood ;  the  crowing  cock ; 
the  drag-net ;  casting  the  net  on  the  other  side ;  putting 
out  into  the  deep;  and  fishers  of  men.  In  this  list,  as 
well  as  illustrations,  we  find  some  incidents  in  his 
life;  also,  with  the  agricultural  are  associated  the  pur- 
suits of  the  shepherd  and  the  fisherman. 

Turning  to  the  field  of  commerce,  we  note  Jesus  talk-   illustrations 
ing  about  profit:  the  pearl  merchant;  the  purchase  of   fr°mCom- 
a  field;  one  going  to  his  merchandise;  tax-gatherers; 
servants  trading  with  talents  and  pounds;  the  selling 
of  two  and  five  sparrows;  stewards  of  various  kinds, 
faithful,  unfaithful,  and  unjust;  two  types  of  debtors; 
hiring  the  unemployed ;  and  selling  sheep. 

Among  industrial  occupations,  we  note  his  references  illustrations 
to  tailoring,  grinding,  and  building.  from  industry 

Several  other  occupations  are  those  of  the  scribe,  &tm  other 
lawyer,  physician,  soldier,  judge,  and  of  the  rulers  of 
the  Gentiles. 

47 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


Labor 
Symbolizes 
the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven 


Praise  of  the 

Economic 

Virtues 


The  Reward 
of  Labor 


Our  lists  may  be  incomplete,  yet  they  include  prob- 
ably all  the  occupations  of  his  day,  whether  of  hand- 
work or  brain-work.  Here  is  a  body  of  teaching 
epitomizing  the  vocational  side  of  life.  We  must  con- 
clude that  Jesus  was  familiar  with  the  types  of  labor 
and  laborers  of  his  day.  We  turn  to  his  teaching  about 
labor  with  real  and  earnest  expectation. 

The  first  obvious  and  outstanding  thing  to  notice  is 
that  labor  to  Jesus  symbolizes  the  heavenly  Kingdom. 
He  does  not  condemn  any  form  of  labor;  he  does  not 
condemn  the  relationship  of  master  and  servant,  but 
rather  stresses  it;  he  does  not  protest  against  either 
riches  or  poverty;  he  just  presupposes  the  complex 
world  of  labor;  but  he  sees  spiritual  meaning  in  it 
all ;  it  suggests  to  him  the  ways  of  God  with  man. 

Further,  fidelity,  industry,  thrift,  and  good  judgment 
— in  fact  all  the  virtues  pertaining  to  labor — are  dis- 
tinctly recognized,  encouraged,  and  praised.  No  busi- 
ness virtue  is  discouraged.  On  the  other  hand,  unfaith- 
fulness, sloth,  disobedience  to  orders,  and  poor  judg- 
ment— in  fact  all  the  vices  attendant  on  the  non-use 
or  abuse  of  labor — he  censures  without  qualification. 
No  business  vice  goes  uncondemned.  Ill-gotten  gain, 
idleness,  and  avarice  are  rebuked.  One  looks  in  vain 
into  the  teachings  of  Jesus  for  any  depreciation  of  busi- 
ness success  or  any  appreciation  of  business  failure. 
To  succeed  in  whatever  one  undertakes  is  so  far  forth 
good,  and  to  fail  brings  discredit  upon  oneself.  Jesus 
does  not  excuse  personal  failure  through  appeal  to 
bad  environment. 

Further,  labor  should  have  its  due  reward.  The 
laborer  is  worthy  of  his  food  and  of  his  hire.  This  is 
true  in  both  the  physical  and  spiritual  realms.  He 
laid  it  down  as  a  principle  in  sending  out  the  twelve 

48 


JESUS  AND  LABOR 

and  the  seventy.  Not  merely  the  wages  due,  but 
promotion  in  the  field  of  attainment  belong  by  right 
to  labor.  "Thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things, 
I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  things"  (Matt.  25: 
21 )  is  the  principle  upon  which  the  master  acts  with 
his  servants.  And  the  promotion  is  proportionate  to 
the  attainment.  "To  him  that  hath  shall  be  given." 
Progress  in  attainment  is  expected,  and  the  lack  of  it 
is  penalized:  "From  him  that  hath  not  shall  be  taken 
away  even  that  which  he  hath"  (Matt.  25:  29). 

Inequality  in  endowment,  leading  to  inequality  in  inequality 
attainment,  and  so  to  inequality  of  reward,  is  plainly 
taught  in  the  parable  of  the  Talents.  The  servants 
start  with  unequal  amounts,  they  gain  unequal  amounts, 
though  each  doubles  his  capital,  and  they  are  promoted 
according  to  their  proven  ability.  In  the  case  of  the 
parable  of  the  Pounds,  there  is  equal  distribution  of 
property  at  the  outset — each  of  ten  servants  receives 
one  pound.  Inequality  in  ability  shows  itself  in  trad- 
ing with  equal  amounts — one  servant  gains  ten  pounds, 
another  five  pounds.  Promotion  to  rulership  over  cities 
is  proportionate  to  attainment,  not  to  original  capital. 
To  Jesus  there  is  no  dead  level  in  the  capacity  of 
workers,  in  the  accomplishment  of  workers,  or  in  the 
promotion  of  workers,  but  each  worker  is  treated  as 
an  individual.  To  each  work  is  given  to  do  accord- 
ing to  his  ability,  from  each  returns  are  expected  ac- 
cording to  his  ability,  and  to  each  promotion  is  given 
according  to  his  accomplishment.  The  laborer  is  not 
rewarded  according  to  his  needs.  Jesus  stated  these 
principles  of  inequality  in  the  field  of  labor  as  matters 
of  truth,  right,  and  life,  not  as  matter  of  theoretical 
economics,  but  with  difficulty  can  any  system  of  sound 
economics  reject  them. 

49 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

Equality  This  principle  of  economic  justice  based  on  payment 

according  to  work  done  is  tempered  by  the  principle 
of  voluntary  generosity,  as  it  appears  in  the  parable 
of  the  Laborers  hired  to  work  in  the  vineyard.  It  was 
a  twelve  hour  day,  from  six  to  six.  In  the  morning 
laborers  were  hired  by  a  householder  for  seventeen 
cents  each.  At  nine,  twelve,  three,  and  even  five 
o'clock,  other  laborers  found  unemployed  in  the  market- 
place were  sent  into  the  vineyard,  the  wage  being  un- 
specified. "Whatsoever  is  right  I  will  give  thee."  The 
steward  paid  each  laborer  seventeen  cents.  Those 
hired  first  began  to  murmur.  But  the  householder  said 
to  one  of  them:  "Friend,  I  do  thee  no  wrong:  didst 
thou  not  agree  with  me  for  seventeen  cents?  Take 
up  that  which  is  thine,  and  go  thy  way;  it  is  my  will 
to  give  unto  this  last  even  as  unto  thee.  Is  it  not  lawful 
for  me  to  do  what  I  will  with  mine  own?  or  is  thine 
eye  evil  because  I  am  good?"  (Matt.  20:  13-15).  The 
point  here  seems  to  be  that  the  first  received  in  justice 
that  for  which  they  had  bargained.  The  others  received 
the  same  as  a  matter  of  voluntary  goodness  on  the 
part  of  the  employer,  because  (i)  through  no  fault  of 
their  own  they  were  unemployed  in  the  market-place, 
and  (2)  they  worked  in  faith  that  they  would  receive 
what  was  right.  The  comment  of  Jesus  on  the  parable 
is,  "So  the  last  shall  be  first  and  the  first  last"  (Matt. 
20:  16).  The  heavenly  meaning  in  this  earthly  story 
seems  to  be  that  in  the  Kingdom  of  God  those  who 
work  for  specified  wages  receive  them,  but  those  who 
for  lack  of  opportunity  come  late  into  the  Kingdom  and 
work  for  unspecified  wages  receive  equally.  The  oc- 
casion for  the  teaching  was  the  question  of  Peter: 
"What  then  shall  we  have?"  (Matt.  19:  27).  Jesus 
tells  him  about  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  but 

SO 


JESUS  AND  LABOR 

warns  him  in  advance  not  to  murmur  if  late-comers 
who  work  faithfully,  not  knowing  what  they  shall  re- 
ceive, are  given  the  same  reward.  In  the  field  of  the 
employment  of  labor  this  principle  of  voluntary  gen- 
erosity provides  not  for  collective  bargaining  but  for 
collective  paying.  In  this  parable  the  solution  of  the 
labor  problem  is  the  good  employer.  He  keeps  his 
word,  he  seeks  out  the  unemployed,  he  provides  them 
with  work,  he  rewards  them  generously.  No  doubt 
such  a  vineyard  would  not  lack  for  laborers. 

The  employer's  being  good  involves  no  divorce  of  Religion  and 
religion  and  business.  This,  too,  is  one  of  the  views  Busmess 
of  Jesus  regarding  spirituality  and  work.  The  fact 
that  the  world  of  employment  is  so  largely  drawn  upon 
for  his  teachings  concerning  the  Kingdom  indicates 
the  unity  of  life  to  him.  If  labor  can  be  used  to  in- 
terpret the  Kingdom,  then  there  is  no  impossibility  of 
the  Kingdom's  being  used  to  interpret  labor.  A  divorce 
between  the  two  does  violence  to  each.  The  wither- 
ing scorn  of  Jesus  is  provoked  by  the  hypocritical 
scribes  "who  devour  widows'  houses,  even  while  for  a 
pretence  they  make  long  prayers;  these  shall  receive 
greater  condemnation"  (Mark  12:  40  margin).  He 
condemns  to  the  tormentors  the  merciless,  avaricious 
servant  who  had  received  forgiveness  for  a  debt  of 
ten  million  dollars  from  his  king,  but  would  not  in 
turn  forgive  a  fellow-servant  his  debt  of  seventeen  dol- 
dars.  Similarly  he  rejects  the  inconsistency  of  calling 
him  "Lord"  and  not  doing  the  things  that  he  says.  It 
is  the  single  gold  standard  of  sincerity  that  Jesus 
advocates  in  the  worlds  of  religion  and  business.  It 
was  the  doing  of  the  truth  whereby  one  came  to  the 
light.  Happiness  consists,  according  to  Jesus,  not  in 
knowing  these  things  but  in  doing  them. 

Si 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


The  Continuity 
of  Labor 


The  principle  of  the  continuity  of  labor  Jesus  also 
recognized  and  specifically  stated.  He  was  sending 
out  his  disciples  to  reap  where  they  had  not  sown,  to 
gather  where  they  had  not  strewn.  "Other  men  labored, 
and  ye  are  entered  into  their  labors"  (John  4:  38). 
The  lord  of  the  servants  he  likened  to  an  austere  man 
gathering  where  he  had  not  scattered.  Not  only  do 
men  enter  into  each  other's  labors  but  each  man  in  his 
future  promotion  enters  into  his  own  past  labors.  He 
has  gained  five  pounds,  he  rules  five  cities.  There  is 
social,  there  is  also  individual,  continuity  in  labor. 

Jesus  gives  us  a  method  of  settling  difficulties  be- 
tween individuals  that  would  apply  also  to  labor  dis- 
putes. It  involves  the  introduction  of  personal  dealings 
in  industry.  First,  "show  him  his  fault  between  thee 
and  him  alone."  Failing  this,  "take  with  thee  one 
or  two  more."  Failing  this,  "tell  it  unto  the  congre- 
gation." Failing  this,  "let  him  be  unto  thee  as  the 
Gentile  and  the  publican."  Thus  the  four  steps  of  pro- 
cedure are  (i)  personal  conference,  (2)  social  con- 
ference, (3)  organization  conference,  and  (4)  sever- 
ing relations.  This  method  is  equally  applicable  be- 
tween a  capitalist  and  offending  labor,  and  an  offending 
capitalist  and  labor.  It  is  competent  for  whichever 
side  is  sinned  against  to  take  the  initiative.  A  strike 
in  the  extreme  case  might  sever  relations,  but  there 
would  be  no  violence. 

Jesus  clearly  teaches  that  personality  is  above  profit. 
"What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world 
and  lose  his  own  soul?  Or  what  shall  a  man  give  in 
exchange  for  his  soul?"  (Mark  8:  36,  37).  "A  man's 
life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things  which 
he  possesseth"  (Luke  12:  15).  A  man  is  of  more  value 
than  the  grass,  the  sparrow,  the  sheep.  The  trouble 

52 


JESUS  AND  LABOR 

with  Dives  was  not  that  he  made  money  but  that  he 
unmade  himself.  The  trouble  with  the  money-changers 
was  not  that  they  were  changing  and  making  money, 
but  that  they  substituted  the  house  of  merchandise 
for  the  house  of  prayer.  The  trouble  with  Martha 
about  her  household  cares  was  that  in  making  a  good 
dinner  she  spoiled  herself.  The  trouble  with  the  hus- 
bandmen was  that,  in  order  to  gain  the  vineyard  as  an 
inheritance,  they  slew  the  servants  and  the  son  of  the 
owner,  sacrificing  their  own  fellows  in  the  greed  for 
gain.  We  are  not  to  labor  for  the  meat  that  perisheth. 
We  are  to  make  for  ourselves  purses  that  wax  not  old. 
We  are  to  lay  up  treasure  in  heaven.  We  are  to  use 
the  fruits  of  labor  to  make  us  friends  who  will  receive 
us  in  the  eternal  habitation.  Labor  is  good;  its  ob- 
jective is  not  money  but  men,  not  cash  but  character. 
The  question  is  not,  Will  it  pay  in  profits?  but,  Will  it 
pay  in  persons? 

Jesus  felt  the  great  urgency  of  his  spiritual  work.  The  Urgency 
He  must  work  the  works  of  Him  that  sent  him  while  ofWork 
it  was  day  before  the  night  came  when  no  man  could 
work.  He  had  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with,  and  was 
straitened  until  it  was  accomplished.  He  must  preach 
also  in  the  next  towns,  for  thereunto  also  was  he  sent. 
He  must  need  pass  through  Samaria,  though  the  Jews 
commonly  avoided  that  route.  He  came  forth  to  bear 
witness  unto  the  truth.  He  had  meat  to  eat  that  the 
disciples  knew  not  of.  His  work  was  his  life,  it  alone 
mattered.  Almost  his  last  words  from  the  cross  ex- 
pressed a  sense  of  relief:  "It  is  finished"  (John  19: 
30).  His  was  a  life  to  condemn  idleness,  slackness, 
and  purposelessness.  He  was  a  worker.  He  did  good 
even  on  the  Sabbath  day.  He  justified  so  doing  ulti- 
mately by  referring  to  the  nature  of  his  Father:  "My 

S3 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

Father  worketh  hitherto  and  I  work."  Thus  work 
he  viewed  as  characteristic  of  the  Divine  Being.  He 
could  not  have  placed  any  higher  esteem  upon  work. 
Labor  and  Rest  Despite  the  sense  of  urgency  in  his  work,  Jesus  was 
not  driven  by  it.  He  took  time  for  refreshment  of  body 
and  spirit.  Schiller  has  said  the  life  of  man  swings 
between  labor  and  indulgence.  The  life  of  Jesus  swings 
between  labor  and  retreat.  Just  before  or  just  after 
some  trying  experience,  Jesus  would  retreat  from  the 
world  of  work  to  a  desert  place  or  the  mountain  for 
rest,  meditation,  and  prayer.  Thus  did  he  at  the  out- 
set of  his  ministry,  following  his  baptism,  for  forty 
days  in  the  wilderness  while  rejecting  false  Messianic 
methods.  Thus  did  he  each  Sabbath  day  in  the  syna- 
gogue. In  the  morning  after  a  hard  Sabbath  day  of 
teaching  and  healing  in  Capernaum,  "a  great  while 
before  day,  he  rose  up  and  went  out,  and  departed 
into  a  desert  place,  and  there  prayed"  (Mark  i:  35). 
Once  seeing  the  multitudes  following  him,  "he  went 
out  into  the  mountain  to  pray;  and  he  continued  all 
night  in  prayer  to  God"  (Luke  6:  12),  on  the  morning 
following  which  he  chose  the  twelve  apostles.  After 
feeding  the  five  thousand,  when  Jesus  saw  they  were 
about  to  come  and  take  him  by  force  to  make  him 
king,  he  sent  his  disciples  before  him  to  the  other  side 
of  the  lake,  dispersed  the  multitude,  and  "he  went  up 
into  the  mountain  apart  to  pray:  and  when  even  was 
come,  he  was  there  alone"  (Matt.  14:  23).  Before 
asking  his  disciples  the  critical  question:  "But  who 
say  ye  that  I  am?"  (Luke  9:  20)  he  was  praying  apart 
on  the  way  to  the  villages  of  Caesarea  Philippi.  When 
he  was  transfigured,  he  was  praying  with  Peter,  James, 
and  John  in  a  high  mountain  apart  by  themselves. 
When  the  twelve  apostles  returned  from  their  mission 

54 


gathered  about  him,  and  told  him  what  they  had  done 
and  taught,  he  said:  "Come  ye  yourselves  apart  into  a 
desert  place,  and  rest  awhile"  (Mark  6:  31).  Only 
by  alternating  expenditure  with  recovery  could  he  go 
from  strength  to  strength.  He  labored  not  to  exhaustion 
of  body  or  unsteadiness  of  soul. 

Such  are  the  main  teachings  of  Jesus  about  labor.  Summary 
Knowing  about  work  with  hand  and  brain  both  from 
experience  and  observation,  he  made  of  it  parables  of 
the  Kingdom;  praised  success  in  it;  censured  personal 
weaknesses  in  it;  said  it  should  be  suitably  rewarded; 
recognized  inequalities  in  capacities,  attainments,  and 
rewards ;  recognized  equality  of  reward  for  unequal  at- 
tainment as  a  matter  of  voluntary  generosity;  scorned 
the  divorce  of  business  and  religion;  pointed  out  the 
principle  of  continuity  in  labor;  gave  a  method  of  set- 
tling difficulties ;  estimated  personality  above  profit ;  felt 
the  divine  urgency  of  work;  and  took  periods  of  rest 
from  and  preparation  for  work  in  both  body  and  soul. 

There  are  many  things  about  the  modern  labor  ques-  Jesus  as  Social 
tion  of  which  he  did  not  speak,  such  as  the  conflict  of  Reformer 
capital  and  labor,  the  economic  interpretation  of  history, 
minimum  wage  scales,  the  eight-hour  day,  compulsory 
arbitration,  collective  bargaining,  profit-sharing,  co- 
operation, class  consciousness,  publicity  of  accounts, 
woman  and  child  labor,  sweat-shops,  strikes,  lock-outs, 
government  ownership  of  public  utilities,  and  the  like. 
Many  of  these  questions  did  not  exist  at  all  in  his  day. 
So  Jesus  is  no  social  revolutionist,  no  economic  agita- 
tor, no  advocate  of  a  panacea,  like  the  single  tax,  but 
just  a  brother  among  workers,  treating  workers  as  fel- 
low human  beings,  seeing  the  divinity  of  labor,  doing 
as  he  would  be  done  by,  and  practicing  love  to  all  men. 
Jesus  reforms  society  by  paying  no  attention  to  social 

55 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

reform.  He  reforms  the  individual,  and  reformed  in- 
dividuals take  care  of  the  social  reforms.  He  does 
not  improve  men  from  the  outside  by  improving  human 
conditions,  but  he  improves  human  conditions  from  the 
inside  by  improving  men.  The  wisdom  of  this  method 
of  procedure  commends  itself  to  second  thought.  Right 
social  conditions  depend  on  good  men  more  than  good 
men  depend  on  right  social  conditions.  Jesus  has  no 
class  consciousness,  consequently  no  class  hatred.  His 
consciousness  includes  the  individual  and  the  universal, 
and  excludes  no  social  group.  When  individuals  are 
Christians,  social  problems  vanish  of  themselves. 

This   solution   of  labor   problems   seems   so   simple 

and  so  ideal  that,  lest  it  may  seem  visionary,  a  few 

quotations  will  be  appended  in  order  to  enforce  its 

practicability. 

Principle  of  In  a  privately  printed  pamphlet  by  John  D.  Rocke- 

johnD.Rocke-   felier    jr     on  «The  personal  Relation  in  Industry," 
feller,  Jr.  *   j    '  J> 

he  says:  "If  I  were  to  sum  up  in  a  few  words  what  I 

have  been  endeavoring  to  say  to  you  in  regard  to  the 
personal  relation  in  industry,  I  should  say,  apply  the 
Golden  Rule." 

Within  a  few  years  the  news  of  the  day  from  London 
contained  this  item: 

A  Working-  "In  these  days  of  conflict  between  labor  and  capital, 

man's  Wfli  a  particularly  striking  story  is  told  by  A.  Bruce-Joy, 
the  sculptor,  whose  colossal  statue  of  the  late  W.  H. 
Hornby  has  just  been  unveiled  at  Blackburn. 

Among  the  workmen  in  the  Hornby  factory  at  Black- 
burn was  one  who  became  a  foreman  and  saved  from 
his  wages  a  large  amount  of  money.  This  man,  John 
Margerison,  and  his  father  before  him  each  worked 
in  the  mill  for  fifty  years.  At  his  death  about  three 
years  ago  it  was  found  that  he  had  left  by  will  more 

56 


JESUS  AND  LABOR 

than  £3,000  ($15,000)  for  erecting  a  statue  in  Black- 
burn to  the  memory  of  his  master  and  benefactor." 

One  of  the  rich  men  of  America,  William  B.  Dickson,   A  Miiiion- 
of  the  Midvale   Steel  Company,  recently  printed  his  aire's  Creed 
"Twentieth  Century  Creed"  as  follows: 

"First — Every  human  being  has  an  inherent,  in- 
alienable right  to  life,  liberty,  and  a  reasonable  op- 
portunity for  the  attainment  of  happiness.  These  are 
human  rights  as  distinguished  from  property  rights, 
and  are  limited  only  by  similar  rights  of  all  other 
persons. 

Second — These  rights  can  be  curtailed  only  as  a  re- 
sult of  the  act  of  the  individual  himself. 

Third — Human  life  being  dependent  on  close  and 
continuous  contact  with  natural  resources,  the  exercise 
of  human  rights  necessarily  implies  free  access  to  these 
resources. 

Fourth — There  are  no  inherent,  exclusive  property 
rights  in  the  natural  resources,  such  as  land,  water, 
air,  minerals,  oil,  gas,  natural  forests,  etc.,  all  of  which 
exist  not  as  the  result  of  man's  labor  or  thought,  but 
as  a  gift  direct  from  the  hand  of  the  Creator  of  the 
Universe. 

Fifth — As  a  corollary  to  the  foregoing,  exclusive  in- 
dividual property  rights  are  limited  to  the  products  of 
man's  labor  or  thought. 

Sixth — Where  human  rights  and  property  rights  con- 
flict, the  former  must  always  prevail." 

This  creed  caused  one  of  the  metropolitan  dailies  to 
comment:  "The  perfected  millionaire,  hammered  into 
shape  by  sledges  of  denunciation,  seems  upon  us." 

The  course  of  social  evolution  is  bringing  it  about 
that  "the  kingdom  of  the  world  is  become  the  king- 
dom of  our  Lord,  and  of  his  Christ"  (Rev.  u:  15). 

57 


STUDY  VII 
^     JESUS  AND  MARRIAGE 

The  family  is  the  basal  institution  of  society  as  at 
present  organized.  There  are  insidious  attacks  being 
made  upon  it  by  some  social  reconstructionists.  We 
need  the  aid  of  the  moral  and  social  insight  of  Jesus 
on  this  question. 

Jesus  himself  was  reared  in  a  home  among  his  kins- 
folk and  acquaintance,  of  which  he  later  became  the 
head.  This  home  he  moved  from  Nazareth  to  Caper- 
naum near  the  beginning  of  his  ministry,  his  mother 
and  "brethren"  going,  the  sisters,  to  whom  tradition 
has  assigned  the  names  of  Salome  and  Mary,  apparently 
remaining  behind  (Mark  6:3),  perhaps  being  married. 
In  order  more  effectively  to  carry  on  his  work  for  the 
Kingdom,  he  himself  then  left  the  Capernaum  home, 
and  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head,  though  the  home 
of  Martha,  Mary,  and  Lazarus  was  open  to  him  in 
Bethany.  His  brothers,  James,  Joses,  Judas,  and  Simon, 
did  not  accept  his  claims  during  his  lifetime,  challenged 
him  to  show  himself  to  the  world  at  the  feast,  suggest- 
ing that,  though  skeptical,  they  would  be  convinced  by 
a  sign.  His  mother  recognized  his  power,  as  shown 
by  her  presumptuous  suggestion  that  he  use  it  at  the 
wedding  and  begin  by  this  method  to  come  into  his  own ; 
he  made  the  water  wine,  not,  however,  as  a  part  of 
the  work  of  his  "hour,"  the  ruler  of  the  feast  not 
knowing  whence  the  wine  came,  but  as  a  gracious  act 
of  a  guest  relieving  the  embarrassment  of  his  host. 
Both  Mary  and  his  brothers  thought  him  beside  him- 

58 


JESUS  AND  MARRIAGE 

self  at  one  time  and  came  to  take  him.  Mary,  though 
apparently  wavering  in  her  allegiance  for  a  while 
(Mark  3:  21,  31),  stood  at  the  cross  and  received  his 
provision  for  her,  James  beheld  the  risen  Christ,  and 
both  Mary  and  his  brethren  form  part  of  the  company 
praying  in  the  upper  chamber  after  the  Ascension. 
So  he  knew  from  experience  the  fire  he  had  kindled 
on  the  earth,  the  sword  he  had  sent,  the  variance  be- 
tween members  of  the  same  family  he  had  caused,  and 
the  necessity  of  "hating"  family  ties  at  times  for  the 
sake  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

He  himself  never  married,  making  himself  a  volun-  views  ot 
tary,  not  physical,  eunuch  for  the  Kingdom's  sake ;  had  M^nw 
so  far  as  we  know  only  one  married  disciple ;  would 
not  allow  one  follower  first  to  bury  his  father,  and 
another  first  to  say  farewell  to  those  of  his  house; 
held  that  whosoever  loved  father  or  mother  more  than 
himself  was  not  worthy  to  be  his  disciple;  said  that  no 
man  should  be  called  father  on  the  earth;  subordinated 
his  own  family  ties  to  spiritual  relationships;  said  he 
had  come  to  set  those  of  whatsoever  family  relationship 
at  variance  with  each  other ;  that  one  must  be  ready  to 
leave  behind  all  family  ties,  even  those  of  the  wife, 
for  his  sake  and  the  Gospel's;  that  having  married 
a  wife  was  used  as  an  excuse  for  not  attending  the 
king's  supper;  and  that  it  was  expedient  for  those  to 
\vhom  it  was  given  not  to  marry.  Yet  he  nowhere  for- 
bids marriage. 

On  the  contrary,  he  attended  a  wedding  with  his  Takes  Marriage 
disciples,  having  been  invited,  rendered  a  gracious  serv-  for  Granted 
ice  to  the  bridegroom,  likened  himself  to  a  bridegroom, 
healed  Peter's  wife's  mother,  likened  the  Kingdom  of 
heaven  to  a  wedding  supper  prepared  by  a  king  for 
his  son,  and  to  wise  and  foolish  virgins  awaiting  the 

59 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

procession  of  the  bridegroom,  likened  the  coming  of 
the  Son  of  Man  to  that  of  the  bridegroom  at  midnight, 
and  said  that  in  the  days  of  the  Son  of  Man  as  in  those 
of  Noah,  though  great  and  sudden  changes  were  at 
hand,  the  common  human  occupations  of  eating,  drink- 
ing, marrying,  and  giving  in  marriage,  would  be  going 
on.  So  Jesus  takes  marriage  for  granted.  But  more, 
he  reforms  marjiage. 

Reforms  The  Jews  of  Jesus'  day  were  sometimes  polygamous, 

Mamage  Herod  the  Great  having  had  ten  wives;  they  divorced 

their  wives  for  trivial  reasons,  the  JiahbjJHiliel  allow- 
ing divorce  "if  she  cook  her  husband's  food  badly  by 
salting  or  roasting  it  too  much,"  and  Rabbi  Akibah 
"if  he  sees  a  woman  fairer  than  she,"  though  Rabbi 
Shammai  allowed  it  only  for  unchastity;  and  did  not 
in  turn  allow  wives  to  divorce  their  husbands.  It  was 
a  mooted  point  in  the  interpretation  of  the  law.  The 
Pharisees  brought  it  to  Jesus.  He  taught,  reaffirming 
Genesis,  that  God  made  male  and  female,  that  a  man 
should  leave  father  and  mother  and  cleave  to  his  wife, 
that  the  two,  not  several,  should  become  one  flesh, 
that  what  God  had  joined  together  man  should  not 
put  asunder,  that  divorce  is  not  divinely  ordained  but 
permitted  by  Moses  because  of  the  hardness  of  man's 
heart,  that  to  put  away  one's  wife  (Matthew  alone  al- 
lows adultery  as  a  reason  for  so  doing)  and  to  marry 
another  is  to  commit  adultery,  that  to  put  away  one's 
husband  and  marry  another  is  to  commit  adultery,  that 
to  marry  a  divorced  woman  is  to  commit  adultery. 
Jesus  put  the  standard  of  faithfulness  in  marriage  so 
high  that  the  disciples  hastily  and  mistakenly  con- 
cluded: "If  the  case  of  the  man  is  so  with  his  wife, 
it  is  not  expedient  to  marry"  (Matt.  19:  10),  thus  re- 
flecting the  prevailingly  low  standards  of  the  time.  Yet 

60 


JESUS  AND  MARRIAGE 

an  institution  thus  divine  in  its  origin  is  not  a  supreme 
good  in  itself,  nor  yet  eternal  in  its  character:  not  a 
supreme  good  in  itself,  for  at  times  it  must  be  left  for 
the  sake  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  a  sacrifice  rewarded 
by  manifold  more  in  this  time,  and  in  the  world  to 
come  eternal  life ;  nor  eternal  in  character,  being  physi- 
cal, for  in  heaven  there  is  neither  marrying  nor  giving 
in  marriage,  the  angels  in  the  presence  of  the  Father 
being  spirits  without  death  and  birth. 

The  purity  of  the  home  Jesus  safeguarded  by  stig-  Safeguards 
matizing  mental  adultery  (Matt.  5:  28),  in  contrast  P0"** 
with  gazing  on  the  heel  or  little  finger  of  a  woman 
forbidden  by  the  rabbis ;  by  teaching  that  only  innocent 
men  should  stone  guilty  women;  by  redeeming  the 
lives  of  sinful  women;  by  considering  the  case,  con- 
trary to  Jewish  custom,  of  the  woman  putting  away 
her  husband;  by  attacking  a  sign-seeking  generation 
as  adulterous,  not  merely  because  of  the  absence  of 
spiritual  religion  but  because  of  lax  standards  of 
morality;  and  by  enjoining  severely  radical  means  of 
securing  self-control  (Matt.  5:  29,  30). 

Undoubtedly  he  thought  of  the  sphere  of  woman  as  NO  Discrimina- 
being  in  the  home,  grinding  at  the  mill  preparing  the  ti°n  Against 
meal  for  the  daily  bread,  putting  leaven  into  the  meal, 
bringing  water  from  the  village  fountain,  hunting  for 
a  lost  coin,  and  mending  rents  in  old  garments,  though 
among  the  company  of  ministering  women  was  Joanna, 
the  wife  of  Chuza,  the  steward  of  Herod  Antipas,  who 
also,  with  other  women,  went  to  the  sepulchre  to  em- 
balm the  body  of  Jesus.  Though  the  rabbis  taught 
that  "he  who  talked  with  a  woman  was  qualifying  for 
Gehenna,"  Jesus  talked  with  women,  made  them  his 
friends,  and  rendered  them  service.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  teaching  of  Jesus  sanctioning  discrimination 

61 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


The  Family 
a  Type  of 
the  Kingdom 


A  Question 


against  woman,  polygamy,  polyandry,  universal  celibacy, 
free  love,  a  double  standard  of  morals,  marriage  as  "an 
association  terminable  at  the  will  of  either  party"; 
nothing  sacrificing  the  family  in  the  interest  of  the 
ideal,  as  did  Plato;  or  making  the  family  obligatory 
upon  all.  Those  who  should  not  marry  are  the  physi- 
cally unfit  and  the  spiritually  devoted  who  can  receive 
it. 

Jesus  taught  the  duty  of  children  to  honor  father 
and  mother,  exposed  the  hypocrisy  of  the  Pharisees 
in  offering  as  gifts  to  the  Temple  money  with  which 
they  should  have  supported  their  parents,  knew  about 
fathers  selecting  good  gifts  for  their  children,  drew 
illustrations  from  obedient  and  disobedient  and  prodigal 
sons,  called  God  the  Father  of  man,  regarded  all  men 
as  sons  of  God  and  so  as  brothers,  transfigured  family 
life  in  the  prayer  taught  the  disciples,  took  the  family 
virtue  of  love  rather  than  the  state  virtue  of  justice 
for  the  first  and  second  commandments,  and  himself 
became  the  bridegroom  of  the  Church  in  the  thought  of 
Paul  and  John.  Thus  the  religion  of  Jesus  may  be 
translated  "the  family  of  God." 

We  have  spoken  of  Jesus,  not  as  a  social  reformer 
but  as  an  inspirer  of  social  reform,  as  giving  not  a 
social  system  but  a  social  spirit,  as  providing  not  details 
of  practice  but  principles.  Shall  we  regard  his  teach- 
ing about  divorce  as  an  exception  to,  or  an  illustration 
of,  his  usual  procedure?  It  would  appear  to  be  an 
exception,  for  once  specific  legislation,  and  as  such 
tremendously  significant  of  the  importance  Jesus  at- 
tached to  the  monogamic  union  which  is  indissoluble, 
save  for  one  cause  (if  indeed  for  that),  and  then  is 
not  to  be  followed  by  remarriage,  except  that  that  is  not 
forbidden  to  the  innocent  party. 

62 


STUDY  VIII 
JESUS  AND  THE  SABBATH 

This  subject  is  one  phase  of  the  succeeding  topic,   Why  Treated 
treated  separately  here  because  of  its  largeness  and 
importance. 

Our  purpose  does  not  require  us  to  consider  the  Omitted  Phases 
origin  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  the  cause  of  its  develop-  of  *«  Question 
ment,  its  festival  character  in  Jewish  religion,  its  strict 
legalistic  observance  in  the  time  of  Jesus,  the  minutiae 
with  which  its  observance  was  celebrated,  or  the  cur- 
rent notion  of  the  religious  leaders  that  acceptance 
with  God  depended  on  observing  the  requirements 
of  the  law  and  also  the  tradition  of  the  elders  which 
had  grown  up  about  the  law.  Some  of  these  things 
will  briefly  appear  in  the  course  of  the  discussion. 
Jesus  was  born  in  an  age  that  trusted  the  formal 
observance  of  ritual  for  salvation,  or  acceptance  with 
God.  The  two  main  occasions  of  ritual  were  the  Sab- 
bath and  the  sacrificial  system. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  question  of  Sabbath  Why  important 
observance  must  needs  arise  in  the  life  and  teachings 
of  Jesus.    The  question  is  important  also  for  moderns, 
for  it  is  one  phase  of  the  abiding  contrast  in  religion 
between  the  outer  and  the  inner. 

To  begin  with,  the  life  of  Jesus  was  naturally  asso-  His  Sabbath 
ciated  in  a  very  intimate  manner  with  the  Sabbath. 
He  formed  as  a  youth  the  habit  of  going  to  the  syna- 
gogue for  instruction  and  worship,  which  continued 
during  his  public  ministry.  The  synagogue  had  a 
keeper  of  the  sacred  roll,  or  book,  of  the  Old  Testa- 

63 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


Two  Questions 


Preaching 
in  Nazareth 


ment.  Any  male  member  of  the  congregation  might 
take  it,  read,  and  comment.  His  fellow-citizens  in 
Nazareth  were  not  surprised  that  he  should  stand  up 
to  read — perhaps  he  had  done  so  many  times  before; 
they  were  surprised  only  at  what  he  said  this  time. 
Jesus  observed  the  Sabbath  according  to  the  law  of 
Moses  throughout  his  public  work,  as  he  understood 
the  law,  not  according  to  traditions  that  had  grown  up 
about  it.  He  both  healed  and  taught  on  the  Sabbath. 
He  even  recognized  the  tradition  that  one  was  per- 
mitted to  travel  only  a  short  distance,  about  a  mile, 
on  the  Sabbath,  in  his  injunction  to  his  disciples  that 
in  view  of  the  severity  of  the  end  they  should  pray  that 
their  flight  be  not  in  winter,  nor  on  a  Sabbath  (Matt. 
24:  20).  The  approach  of  the  Sabbath,  which  in  this 
case  was  also  the  Passover,  hurried  the  preparations 
for  his  crucifixion  and  his  burial,  which  must  be  done 
before  sunset  on  Friday  when  the  Sabbath  began.  He 
lay  in  the  tomb  on  the  Sabbath,  but  his  appearances 
to  his  disciples  were  thereafter  only  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week.  Such  in  brief  indicates  how  his  life  was 
outwardly  related  to  the  Sabbath. 

What  use  did  Jesus  make  of  the  Sabbath?  And 
how  did  this  use  in  some  instances  scandalize  the 
Jews  ?  These  two  questions  can  be  considered  together, 
Among  the  things  Jesus  did  on  the  Sabbath,  the  follow- 
ing are  recorded  as  of  note. 

He  preached  in  the  synagogue  in  Nazareth,  certainly 
once,  perhaps  twice.  This  was  on  the  Sabbath  day,  the 
natural  time  for  him  to  receive  a  hearing.  He  was 
rejected,  not  because  of  any  violation  of  the  Sabbath, 
but  because  of  the  content  of  his  message.  His  fel- 
low-citizens thought  they  knew  him  too  well  to  justify 
them  in  acknowledging  his  claims. 

64 


JESUS  AND  THE  SABBATH 

The  first  conflict  between  Jesus  and  the  Jews  regard-  The  Bethesda 
ing  Sabbath  observance  was  occasioned  by  his  curing  Cr>PPle  Cured 
the  cripple  at  Bethesda.  The  man  had  been  an  invalid 
for  thirty-eight  years.  Jesus  saw  him  lying  near  the 
pool,  knew  he  had  been  in  that  condition  a  long  time, 
had  compassion  on  him,  and  asked  him:  "Do  you  wish 
to  have  health  and  strength?"  The  sufferer  replied 
respectfully  to  the  sympathetic  stranger  that  he  had 
no  one  to  put  him  into  the  pool  when  the  water  was 
moved,  but  while  he  was  coming  some  one  else  would 
step  down  before  him.  Jesus  said,  "Rise,  take  up  your 
mat,  and  walk."  The  man  did  as  he  was  told  and  was 
restored.  It  was  the  Sabbath. 

The  Jews  objected  to  the  man's  carrying  his  mat  objection  of 
on  the  Sabbath  day.  If  he  were  in  danger  of  death,  he  toe  jews 
could  be  carried  on  his  mat  on  the  Sabbath  day,  but  as 
a  cured  man  to  carry  his  mat  was  to  be  carrying  a 
burden,  so  doing  work,  and  so  violating  the  Sabbath. 
A  man  must  empty  even  his  pockets  before  the  Sabbath, 
lest  he  carry  a  burden.  The  man's  defense  was  that  he 
who  cured  him  told  him  to  do  so,  but  he  could  not  tell 
them  who  it  was,  and  Jesus  had  passed  out  unnoticed, 
the  place  being  crowded.  Later  Jesus  made  himself 
known  in  the  Temple  to  the  man,  who  reported  now 
to  the  Jews  that  it  was  Jesus  who  had  restored  him 
to  health.  Then  the  Jews  began  to  persecute  Jesus 
because,  first,  he  had  bidden  a  man  carry  a  burden  on 
the  Sabbath  day  and,  second,  had  healed  a  man  not  in 
imminent  danger  of  death. 

The  significant  reply  of  Jesus  to  their  accusation  was :  Rebuttal 
"My  Father  works  unceasingly  and  so  do  I."     This  ofJesras 
reply  meant  the  Jews  were  mistaken  in  supposing  God 
rested  the  seventh  day  after  the  six  days  of  creation, 
that  his  nature  was  unceasing  activity,  that  similar 

65 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

activity  on  the  part  of  Jesus  was  unobjectionable.  His 
reply  made  the  Jews  all  the  more  eager  to  put  him  to 
death  because  he  both  broke  the  Sabbath  and  spoke 
of  God  as  his  own  Father. 

Casting  Out  Once  in  Capernaum  on  the  Sabbath  day  he  entered 

an  Unclean  jnto  the  synagogue  and  taught.  Unlike  the  scribes, 
quoting  opinions,  he  taught  with  authority,  that  is, 
with  independent  interpretation  and  individual  pro- 
nouncement of  truth.  There  was  a  man  in  the  syna- 
gogue who  had  a  spirit  of  an  unclean  devil,  that  is, 
vile  speech  proceeded  out  of  his  mouth,  and  Jesus 
healed  him.  No  objection  was  made,  possibly  none 
of  the  ritualistic  Jews  were  present,  but  amazement 
came  upon  all,  and  there  went  forth  a  rumor  concern- 
ing him  into  all  Galilee. 

Healing  Peter's       That  same  Sabbath,  on  leaving  the  synagogue,  he 
Mother-in-Law    went  to  the  house  of  Simon  Peter  and  Andrew,  with 
James  and  John.    The  mother  of  Peter's  wife  was  sick 
with  a  high  fever.    They  besought  him  for  her  and  he 
healed  her.     Then  in  turn  she  ministered  unto  them. 
That  Sabbath  of  two  cures  was  over  at  sunset,  after 
which    many    others,    perhaps    detained    by    religious 
scruples  hitherto,  appeared  at  the  door  and  were  healed. 
Plucking  Ears         Once  in  autumn  Jesus  was  going  through  the  grain 
of  Grain  fields  on  a  Sabbath  day.    His  disciples  were  hungry,  and 

doubtless  having  learned  from  preceding  experiences 
that  Jesus  was  no  legalistic  observer  of  the  Sabbath, 
began  to  pluck  the  ears  of  grain,  rub  them  in  their 
hands,  and  to  eat.  There  would  have  been  nothing 
improper  in  so  doing  on  a  week  day.  The  law  said : 
"When  thou  comest  into  thy  neighbor's  standing  grain, 
then  thou  mayest  pluck  the  ears  with  thy  hand;  but 
thou  shall  not  move  a  sickle  unto  thy  neighbor's  stand- 
ing grain"  (Deut.  23:  25).  But  on  a  Sabbath  day  the 

66 


JESUS  AND  THE  SABBATH 

Pharisees  held  that  plucking  was  reaping  and  rubbing 
was  threshing,  things  not  lawful  on  the  Sabbath.  They 
complainingly  asked  Jesus  why  his  disciples  did  so. 

The  answer  of  Jesus  on  this  occasion  was  full  and  justified 
explicit,  as  though  he  fully  realized  the  gravamen  of  by  Jesus 
the  offense.  First,  physical  need  justified  the  conduct 
of  the  disciples,  as  illustrated  by  the  example  of  David 
who,  being  hungry,  ate  the  shew-bread  in  the  house  of 
God,  and  gave  to  those  with  him,  though  only  the 
priests  could  legally  partake  of  it.  Physical  need  justi- 
fied the  violation  of  a  ritualistic  custom  otherwise  un- 
lawful. Second,  he  asked,  "Have  ye  not  read  in  the  law 
how  that  on  the  Sabbath  day  the  priests  in  the  temple 
profane  the  Sabbath,  and  are  guiltless  7^  (Matt.  12: 
5).  That  is,  the  law  required  the  temple  service  which 
involved  carrying  burdens  on  the  Sabbath,  though  that 
the  law  forbade.  But  the  greatness  of  the  Temple  and 
the  importance  of  its  service  was  held  to  justify  break- 
ing the  law.  "But  I  say  unto  you  that  one  greater  than 
the  temple  is  here"  (Matt.  12:  6).  That  is,  the  service 
of  persons,  who  are  of  supreme  value,  leaves  guiltless 
those  who  break  the  Sabbath  regulation.  Third,  he 
continues,  "If  ye  had  known  what  this  meaneth,  I 
desire  mercy,  and  not  sacrifice,  ye  would  not  have  con- 
demned the  guiltless"  (Matt.  12:  7).  That  is,  in  rais- 
ing their  objection,  they  were  putting  the  letter  of 
sacrifice,  prescription,  and  regulation  above  the  spirit 
of  mercy,  which  relieves  need  even  on  the  Sabbath. 
Fourth,  he  sums  up  the  three  answers  given  in  an 
aphorism:  "The  sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  not 
man  for  the  sabbath:  so  that  the  Son  of  Man  is  lord 
even  of  the  sabbath"  (Mark  2:  27,  28).  That  is,  even 
so  valuable  an  institution  as  the  Sabbath  existed  not 
for  itself  nor  to  be  served,  but  to  serve  man,  so  that 

67 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


Restoring  a 
Withered  Hand 


Defense  of 
Jesus 


the  Son  of  man,  sensing  universal  human  need,  could 
use  the  Sabbath  for  his  own  purposes.  It  was  a  won- 
derful statement  of  the  case.  Unfortunately  we  do  not 
know  how  the  Pharisees  received  it.  Probably  they 
were  puzzled,  though  not  convinced.  Two  opposing 
views  of  religion  were  in  conflict — legalism  and  service. 

On  another  Sabbath  he  entered  again  into  one  of 
their  synagogues  and  taught.  There  was  a  man  pres- 
ent with  a  withered  right  hand.  The  man  was  not  in 
mortal  peril,  otherwise  healing  him  would  have  been 
no  offense.  No  doubt,  too,  the  man  could  have  waited 
till  after  sunset  to  be  healed,  when  the  Sabbath  would 
be  over,  but  it  was  convenient  to  heal  him  then  and 
there.  The  scribes  and  the  Pharisees  watched  Jesus 
to  see  whether  he  would  heal  him.  They  were  seeking 
for  some  accusation  to  lodge  against  him.  Jesus  knew 
their  thoughts,  and  he  knew  what  he  would  do  without 
fear  or  compromise.  He  said  to  the  man:  "Rise  up, 
and  stand  forth  in  the  midst."  Then  came  their  ques- 
tion :  "Is  it  lawful  to  heal  on  the  sabbath  day  ?" 

The  reply  of  Jesus  in  this  case  was :  "I  ask  you,  is  it 
lawful  on  the  sabbath  to  do  good  or  to  do  harm?  to 
save  a  life  or  to  destroy  it?  What  man  shall  there 
be  of  you,  that  shall  have  one  sheep,  and  if  this  fall 
into  a  pit  on  the  sabbath  day,  will  he  not  lay  hold  on 
it,  and  lift  it  out?  How  much  then  is  a  man  of  more 
value  than  a  sheep?  Wherefore  it  is  lawful  to  do  good 
on  the  sabbath  day."  The  argument  here  is  by  analogy 
from  the  precedent  of  a  case  which  they  allowed,  that 
is,  lifting  a  sheep  from  a  pit  on  the  Sabbath.  How 
much  more  should  a  man  be  lifted  out  of  his  infirmity? 

In  this  case  we  know  the  effect  of  his  argument :  they 
held  their  peace.     There  was  no  answer  in  reason. 
(Luke  6:  9;  Matt.  12:  n,  12.) 
68 


JESUS  AND  THE  SABBATH 

Then  Jesus  "looked  round  about  on  them  all  with 
anger,  being  grieved  at  the  hardening  of  their  heart" 
(Mark  3:5).  He  healed  the  man. 

This  so  infuriated  the  Pharisees  that  they  took  coun- 
sel together  what  they  might  do  to  him,  and  went  out 
and  joined  with  their  own  enemies,  the  Herodians,  who 
as  a  political  party  were  ready  to  oppose  any  Messiah 
who  would  dethrone  the  Herods,  that  religion  and 
politics  combined  might  destroy  him. 

Jesus  was  cognizant  of  this  plot,  and  its  occasion.  Further 
Later,  at  the  feast  of  tabernacles,  Jesus  defended  him- 
self  in  the  Temple  against  the  charge  of  Sabbath-break- 
ing as  follows :  "I  did  one  work,  and  ye  all  marvel 
because  thereof.  Moses  hath  given  you  circumcision 
(not  that  it  is  of  Moses  but  of  the  fathers)  ;  and  on 
the  sabbath  ye  circumcise  a  man.  If  a  man  receiveth 
circumcision  on  the  sabbath,  that  the  law  of  Moses  may 
not  be  broken,  are  ye  wroth  with  me,  because  I  made 
a  man  every  whit  whole  on  the  sabbath?"  (John  7:21- 
23).  The  argument  here  is  similar  to  that  of  the  temple 
service  above,  vis.  if  it  is  guiltless  to  violate  the  Sabbath 
in  performing  circumcision  that  the  law  may  be  kept, 
how  much  more  is  it  guiltless  to  violate  the  Sabbath 
in  a  work  of  mercy  that  a  man  may  be  made  whole? 
The  contrast  is  between  legalism  and  personality. 
Helping  a  man  is  no  more  violation  of  the  Sabbath  than 
keeping  a  law. 

On  another  Sabbath  Jesus  spat  on  the  ground,  made  Healing  a  Man 
clay  of  the  spittle,  anointed  the  eyes  of  a  man  born  blind,  Bom  BUnd 
and  sent  him  to  wash  in  the  pool  of  Siloam.     Here 
was  a  case  similar  to  that  of  the  invalid  on  his  mat — 
there  was  healing  of  a  person  not  sick  unto  death  and 
work  involved  in  making  and  applying  the  clay.    The 
man  came  seeing.    His  interested  neighbors  recognized 

69 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


Healing  a 
Bowed  Woman 


The  Objection 


Reply  of  Jesus 


this  as  a  case  for  Pharisaic  consideration.  They 
brought  him  to  the  Pharisees,  not  knowing  where  Jesus 
was.  To  them  the  man  repeated  his  story.  Some  of 
them  said:  "This  man  is  not  from  God,  because  he 
keepeth  not  the  Sabbath."  Others,  however,  said: 
"How  can  a  man  that  is  a  sinner  do  such  signs?"  On 
this  occasion  they  were  unable  to  come  at  Jesus,  but 
they  excommunicated  the  man  for  defending  him.  To 
them  making  the  blind  see  could  not  counteravail  for 
making  clay  of  spittle.  Ritualistic  restraint  outweighed 
human  service  in  their  religion. 

On  another  Sabbath  he  was  teaching  in  one  of  the 
synagogues.  There  was  a  woman  present  who  for 
eighteen  years  had  been  bowed  together  without  being 
able  to  lift  herself  up.  Jesus  healed  her  by  laying  his 
hands  upon  her.  This  was  a  case  unattended  by  any 
offending  circumstance  like  carrying  a  mat  or  making 
clay  of  spittle,  but  was  simply  healing  a  person  not 
near  death. 

The  ruler  of  the  synagogue,  steeped  in  the  legalism 
of  the  Pharisees,  was  indignant  because  Jesus  had 
healed  on  the  Sabbath,  and  addressed  the  multitude: 
"There  are  six  days  in  which  man  ought  to  work:  in 
them  therefore  come  and  be  healed  and  not  on  the  day 
of  the  sabbath"  (Luke  13:  14).  His  language  recalled 
the  six  days  of  creation  and  suggested  that  coming 
and  being  healed  was  work. 

His  address  aroused  the  spirit  of  Jesus  to  reply :  "Ye 
hypocrites,  doth  not  each  one  of  you  on  the  sabbath 
loose  his  ox  or  his  ass  from  the  stall,  and  lead  him 
away  to  watering?  And  ought  not  this  woman,  being 
a  daughter  of  Abraham,  whom  Satan  had  bound,  lo, 
these  eighteen  years,  to  have  been  loosed  from  this 
bond  on  the  day  of  the  sabbath?"  (Luke  13:  15,  16). 

70 


JESUS  AND  THE  SABBATH 

The  law  allowed  them  to  loose  ox  or  ass  for  watering, 
but  not  to  loose  a  woman  for  healing.  Such  religion 
was  deceptive,  hypocritical.  This  clever  thrust  of  Jesus 
was  not  without  effect,  for  his  adversaries  were  shamed 
and  the  multitudes  rejoiced. 

A  sixth  case  of  healing  was  that  of  the  man  with  the  Healing  a 
dropsy.    Five  of  these  cases  are  reported  by  the  physi-  Man  With 

•          T     i  J    4.  £    ^          u       u-  i  T       Iu-      the  Dropsy 

cian  Luke,  and  two  of  them  by  him  only.  In  this 
instance  Jesus  was  not  in  the  synagogue  but  in  the 
house  of  one  of  the  rulers  of  the  Pharisees,  whither 
he  had  gone  to  eat  bread.  He  was  being  watched,  as 
usual.  "And  behold,  there  was  a  certain  man  before 
him  that  had  the  dropsy,"  who  had  probably  made  free 
to  come  in.  This  time  Jesus  took  the  initiative  and 
asked  the  lawyers  and  Pharisees :  "Is  it  lawful  to  heal 
on  the  sabbath,  or  not?"  (Luke  14:  3).  Perhaps 
through  caution  born  of  past  experience,  they  held 
their  peace.  Jesus  healed  the  man  and  let  him  go. 
Then  he  defended  himself  by  an  argument  similar  to 
that  of  the  one  sheep  in  the  pit,  as  follows :  "Which  of 
you  shall  have  an  ass  or  an  ox  fallen  into  a  well,  and 
will  not  straightway  draw  him  up  on  a  sabbath  day?" 
(Luke  14:  5).  If  an  ass  is  released,  why  not  a  man? 
They  could  not  answer  him.  In  fact,  in  all  the  cases 
of  supposed  breaking  of  the  Sabbath,  no  answer  is 
given  to  his  position. 

So  far  we  have  noted  that  among  the  deeds  done  by  i^pes  of 
Jesus,  or  his  company,  on  the  Sabbath  day  were  these :   S*01*111 
attending  the  synagogue  service,  reading  the  Old  Testa- 
ment roll,  commenting  on  it,  teaching,  plucking  ears 
of  grain  as  they  walked  through  the  fields,  and  healing 
the  sick  and  afflicted.     There  is  still  another  type  of 
deed  of  Jesus  on  the  Sabbath  to  be  noted,  namely,  par- 
taking of  the  festive  meal. 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


A  Sabbath 
Meal 


The  Supper 
in  Bethany 


Sabbath 
Hospitality 
No  Offense 


The  incident  noted  above  of  healing  the  man  with  the 
dropsy  occurred  on  the  Sabbath  in  the  house  of  one 
of  the  rulers  of  the  Pharisees.  Jesus  was  being  watched 
at  the  time,  and  he  showed  himself  a  most  unusual 
guest.  Not  only  did  he  work  a  deed  of  healing,  but 
he  spoke  a  parable  against  those  who  were  choosing 
out  the  chief  seats  for  themselves  at  the  meal,  gave 
instructions  to  his  host  as  to  inviting  to  his  feast  those 
who  could  not  recompense  him,  and  spoke  also  the 
parable  of  the  slighted  invitation  to  supper.  These 
topics  were  all  appropriate  to  the  occasion  and  spon- 
taneously given  by  Jesus.  We  do  not  know  the  effect. 

Another  illustration  of  the  social  festive  meal  on 
the  Sabbath  was  that  of  the  supper  in  the  Bethany  home. 
It  was  the  Sabbath  before  the  triumphal  entry  into 
Jerusalem  on  the  following  day.  Lazarus,  who  had 
been  raised  from  the  dead,  reclined  at  meat  with  them, 
Martha  served,  and  Mary  anointed  his  feet  with  a 
pound  of  "very  precious"  nard,  and  wiped  them  with 
her  hair,  filling  the  house  with  the  odor  of  the  oint- 
ment. Judas,  the  thieving  treasurer,  complained  that 
the  ointment  was  not  rather  sold  and  given  to  the  poor. 
Jesus  defended  the  generous  expression  of  gratitude 
and  hospitality  in  view  of  his  burying,  occurring  the 
following  Friday,  which  would  soon  remove  him  from 
them,  while  the  poor  always  remained.  Hearing  of 
his  presence  in  the  Village,  the  common  people  of  the 
Jews  came  to  see  both  him  and  Lazarus,  on  whose  ac- 
count many  of  the  Jews  believed  on  Jesus.  On  this 
account  the  chief  priests  included  Lazarus  also  in  the 
counsel  of  death. 

In  accepting  hospitality  on  the  Sabbath  Jesus  did 
not  violate  any  law  or  tradition  of  the  elders.  And 
though  the  accusation  of  Sabbath-breaking  was  one  of 

72 


JESUS  AND  THE  SABBATH 

the  chief  causes  of  conflict  between  Jesus  and  the  Jews, 
it  was  not  a  capital  offense,  and  so  did  not  appear  in 
the  charges  against  him  at  the  trial.  His  use  of  the 
Sabbath  caused  other  charges  to  be  preferred  against 
him,  but  was  not  itself  a  charge. 

From  this  review  of  the  deeds  of  Jesus  on  the  Sab-  Points  of 
bath  we  may  derive  his  point  of  view  regarding  its   A*1"**™61* 

and  Dis- 

observance,  and  the  points  wherein  he  agreed  and  dis-  agreement 
agreed  with  the  Jewish  observance  of  the  day.  With  his 
enemies  he  accepted  the  Sabbath  as  a  religious  insti- 
tution, and  criticised,  not  its  existence,  but  the  mode  of 
its  observance.  The  things  he  did  on  the  Sabbath  which 
excited  no  criticism  were  attending  the  synagogue, 
reading,  preaching,  teaching,  and  being  entertained  in 
homes.  It  is  very  probable  that  Jesus  and  his  com- 
pany did  not  violate  "the  Sabbath  day's  journey"  tradi- 
tion, that  one  should  not  travel  on  a  Sabbath  more  than 
two  thousand  cubits — about  a  mile  (cf.  Matt  24:  20). 
On  the  other  hand,  the  things  he  did  which  commanded 
criticism  were:  allowing  the  disciples  to  pluck  and  rub 
ears  of  grain,  healing,  commanding  a  man  to  carry  his 
mat  whereon  he  had  been  lying  ill,  and  making  clay  of 
spittle. 

From  his  defense  in  these  latter  cases  we  can  find  no  Conclusions 
encouragement  to  Sabbatarianism,  but  the  use  of  the 
Sabbath  to  do  good  to  the  bodies  and  spirits  of  men 
according  to  their  need,  and  the  recognition  of  religion 
not  as  legalism,  but  as  divine  and  human  service.  Jesus 
himself  kept  the  law  in  spirit,  but  rejected  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  elders  as  heavy  burdens  grievous  to  be 
borne.  It  is  thoroughly  in  keeping  with  the  practice 
and  teaching  of  Jesus  that  he  should  actually  have 
spoken  the  words  attributed  to  him  by  one  of  the  manu- 
scripts, as  follows:  "On  the  same  day  [as  the  incident 

73 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

of  the  grain  fields]  seeing  one  working  on  the  Sabbath, 
he  said  unto  him,  'O  man,  if  indeed  thou  knowest  what 
thou  doest,  thou  art  blessed;  but  if  thou  knowest  not, 
thou  art  accursed,  and  a  transgressor  of  the  law.' " 
Jesus  was  no  antinomian,  nor  yet  a  legalist,  but  a  serv- 
ant of  the  spirit. 

The  Lord's  It  remains  only  to  note  that  it  is  in  full  keeping  with 

D*y  the  free  spirit  with  which  Jesus  observed  the  Sabbath, 

with  his  rejection  of  the  idea  that  God  rested  on  the 
seventh  day  or  ever  rests,  with  his  teaching  that  the 
Son  of  Man  is  lord  of  the  Sabbath,  with  his  resurrec- 
tion on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  with  his  five  ap- 
pearances to  his  disciples  only  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  that  the  observance  of  the  seventh  day  should 
have  early  passed  to  the  first  day  of  the  week,  and 
that  this  day  even  in  the  apostolic  age  should  have 
come  to  be  known  as  "the  Lord's  day"  (Rev.  1 : 10). 

This  study  will  help  us  in  the  following  one  on  the 
ittitude  of  Jesus  toward  the  religious  authorities. 


74 


J 


STUDY  IX 
JESUS  AND  THE  RELIGIOUS  AUTHORITIES 

This  is  the  appropriate  title,  suggested  by  the  cir-  The  Question 
cumstances  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  under  which  to  discuss 
the  theme  and  have  in  mind  the  relation  of  Jesus  to  the 
church  of  his  day.  It  will  throw  light  on  the  question 
of  the  relation  of  followers  of  Jesus  to  the  church  of 
our  day.  The  church,  state,  business,  home,  and  school 
are  our  greatest  social  institutions.  The  public  life  of 
Jesus  was  spent  in  constant  service  of  "publicans  and 
sinners"  under  constant  cross-fire  from  "the  righteous," 
in  ministering  physically  and  spiritually  to  the  multi- 
tudes while  combating  intellectually  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees. 

The  outward  life  of  Jesus  was  spent  in  continual   The  Law 
contact  with  the  influence  of  the  synagogue  and  the  and  ffis  Life 
leaders  of  the  Jewish  religion.     The  chief  priests  and 
scribes  were  able  to   tell   Herod  the   Great  that  the 
Christ  should  be  born  in  Bethlehem.    According  to  the  The  Law  and 
law  of  Moses,  eight  days  after  his  birth  he  was  cir-  His  Infancy 
cumcised;  and  again  after  forty  days  he  was  presented 
in  the  Temple.    At  the  Presentation  the  righteous  and 
devout  Simeon  blessed  him  and  told  Mary  he  was  set 
for  the  falling  and  rising  up  of  many  in  Israel,  and 
for  a  sign  which  is  spoken  against.    Likewise,  the  aged 
prophetess  Anna  spoke  of  him  to  all  them  that  were 
looking  for  the  redemption  of  Israel.    "And  when  they 
had  accomplished  all  things  that  were  according  to  the 
law  of  the  Lord,  they  returned  into  Galilee,  to  their 
own  city  Nazareth"  (Luke  2:  39). 

75 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


The  Law  and 
His  Boyhood 
and  Youth 


Public 
Contact 
with  the 
Religious 
Authorities 


His  parents,  being  devout  persons  and  obedient  to 
the  law,  were  accustomed  to  go  every  year  to  the  feast 
of  the  Passover.  Tesus_was__brought  up  to  anticipate 
his  own  celebration  of  this  feast  when  he  should  be 
twelve.  When  the  time  came,  he  was  prepared  for 
it.  The  experience  was  an  absorbing  one  to  him.  In 
his  Father's  house  he  saw  the  doctors  of  the  law,  heard 
them,  asked  them  questions,  and  astonished  them  by 
his  own  understanding  and  answers.  He  derived  from 
this  experience  something  to  think  about  henceforth. 
Thereafter,  doubtless  every  year  he  observed  the  family 
habit  of  attending  this  feast.  Without  doubt  also  as  a 
boy  he  had  attended  the  village  school  in  the  syna- 
gogue where  he  learned  to  read  the  law  and  to  write. 
Also  he  formed  the  habit  of  attending  the  synagogue 
service  of  instruction  and  prayer  on  the  Sabbath. 

During  his  short  public  ministry  he  was  constantly 
in  even  closer  contact  with  the  established  religious 
life  and  leaders  of  the  time.  He  ate  twice,  or  per- 
haps three  times,  in  the  homes  of  Pharisees.  He  healed 
the  daughter  of  Jairus,  one  of  the  rulers  of  the  syna- 
gogue. Though  regarding  himself  as  free  from  the 
obligation,  he  nevertheless  paid  the  half-shekel  temple 
tax  (Matt.  17:  24-27).  He  commanded  the  ten  lepers 
to  go  and  show  themselves  to  the  priests,  as  the  law 
required  cleansed  lepers  to  do.  He  revealed  to  the 
rich  young  ruler  his  one  weakness.  He  taught  Nico- 
demus,  a  teacher  in  Israel,  a  ruler  of  the  Jews,  con- 
cerning the  new  birth  necessary  for  the  Pharisaic  class, 
as  for  all. 

Once  when  the  Pharisees  heard  that  the  disciples  of 
Jesus  were  baptizing  more  than  John,  he  left  Judaea, 
the  scene  of  possible  trouble,  for  Galilee.  He  taught 
in  the  synagogues  in  Galilee,  especially  in  Nazareth 

76 


JESUS  AND  RELIGIOUS  AUTHORITIES 

and  Capernaum,  and  preached  that  the  Kingdom  was 
at  hand.  This  did  he  also  in  the  synagogues  through- 
out Palestine.  He  answered  the  question  of  the  Phari- 
sees concerning  the  time  when  the  Kingdom  of  God 
should  come. 

V    I*  is  evident  that  the  outward  life  of  Jesus  was  spent  Jesus  Re- 
in intimate  contact  with  the  religious  authorities  and  ^P6046*  *** 

— - — : — , — -, - — r ; —  —  -f —        Law  and  its 

.their  influence.    It  is  also  already  apparent  that  Jesus   offices,  not 
kept  the  requirements  of  the  Jewish  law,  and  sought   its  Officials 
to  avoid  giving  offense  to  the  ecclesiastical  powers.    As 
we  proceed,  we  shall  see  that  his  work  brought  him 
inevitably  under  their  criticism,  against  which  Jesus 
defended  himself,  then  moved  to  the  attack,  which  he 
correctly  anticipated  would  cost  him  his  life. 

Passing  from  contacts  to  conflicts,  one  of  the  main   Sources  of 
occasions  of  their  hostile  criticism  was  his  works  of  Conflict 
mercy  on  the  Sabbath  day,  previously  considered.  The  Sabbath 

Another  was  the  demand  for  a  sign.  The  religious  The  Demand 
leaders  wanted  Jesus  to  work  some  supernatural  and  for  a  Sisn 
convincing  wonder  in  their  presence  as  proof  of  his 
Messiahship,  or  even  religious  leadership,  such  as 
casting  himself  down  from  the  pinnacle  of  the  Temple 
while  being  borne  up  by  angels — a  temptation  he  once 
for  all  rejected,  at  least  until  his  second  coming.  He 
was  working  signs  all  the  time  in  wonderful  healings 
through  compassion,  with  no  intent  of  thereby  being 
accepted  as  Messiah,  but  the  Jews  wanted  something 
openly  and  obviously  done  to  convince  even  skeptics. 
Thus,  after  cleansing  the  Temple,  he  was  asked  by  the 
Jews:  "What  sign  shewest  thou  unto  us,  seeing  that 
thou  doest  these  things?"  (John  2:  18).  Likewise  in 
the  borders  of  Magadan  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees 
came  and,  tempting  him,  asked  him  "to  show  them  a 
sign  from  heaven"  (Matt.  16:  i).  It  was  a  repetition 

77 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


His  Reply 

(i) 

The  Resur- 
rection 


(a) 
Jonah 


(3) 

"An  Evil  and 

Adulterous 

Generation" 

(4) 

Weather  Signs 


Meaning  of 
His  Reply 


of  the  temptation  in  the  wilderness.  Likewise,  after 
his  healing  the  dumb  demoniac,  the  scribes  and  Phari- 
sees in  the  presence  of  the  multitude  said :  "Master,  we 
would  see  a  sign  from  thee"  (Matt.  12:  38). 

Jesus  never  acceded  to  the  demand  for  a  sign.  In- 
stead he  referred  them  to  his  resurrection,  which  they 
did  not  understand,  though  they  and  the  disciples  re- 
membered the  saying  later,  when  they  asked  for  the 
guard  for  the  sepulchre  and  the  disciples  were  con- 
fronted with  the  empty  tomb.  "Destroy  this  temple 
and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up"  (John  2:  19), 
he  said. 

He  also  referred  them  to  the  sign  of  Jonah  the 
prophet,  in  connection  with  his  own  resurrection. 
Twice  he  gave  them  this  reference. 

Twice  also  he  condemned  the  search  for  a  sign  as 
characteristic  of  "an  evil  and  adulterous  generation." 

Once,  with  withering  sarcasm,  he  rebuked  them  for 
not  being  able  to  discern  the  signs  of  the  times  when 
their  weather-lore  allowed  them  to  discern  the  face 
of  the  heaven. 

What  is  the  inner  unity  in  these  four  answers  to  the 
demand  for  a  sign?  His  resurrection  was  future; 
Jonah  was  past;  the  evil  and  adulterous  generation, 
and  the  reading  of  weather-signs  were  present.  The 
inner  unity  is  that  a  generation  doing  wickedness  and 
guilty  of  adulterous  irreligion  had  only  material  but 
no  spiritual  insight.  To  accede  to  a  demand  for  a 
materialistic  wonder  would  likewise  be  ineffective.  "If 
they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  neither  would 
they  believe,  though  one  rose  from  the  dead,"  Abraham 
says  to  Dives  (Luke  16:  31).  However,  those  who 
look  for  signs  may  some  day  remember  the  analogy 
between  Jonah  in  the  fish  and  Jesus  in  the  tomb.  These 

78 


JESUS  AND  RELIGIOUS  AUTHORITIES 

occurrences  were  not  given  as  signs,  but  may  be  taken 
as  signs.  In  short,  the  order  of  existence  itself  is  divine 
and  no  possible  interference  with  it  is  effective  with 
those  devoid  of  spiritual  insight.  Jesus  said,  in  effect, 
to  the  sign-seeking  Jews:  if  you  do  not  see  God  in 
what  I  am  doing,  still  less  would  you  see  Him  in  what 
you  demand  that  I  do.  It  was  the  asseveration  of  inner 
spiritual  insight  against  outer  material  eyesight. 

Another   cause  of   conflict  between   Jesus   and   the  His  For- 
religious  authorities  was  his  forgiveness  of  sins.    The  gi*"1*8"" 
occasion  was  when  four  friends  of  a  man  sick  with 
palsy  had  let  him  down  before  Jesus  through  the  tiles 
from  the  roof.     Jesus  saw  their  faith  and  doubtless  The  sick  of 
also  understood  that  the  disease  of  the  man  was  largely  the  Palsy 
nervous,  due  to  sins  committed.    Going  to  the  root  of 
the   matter,   Jesus   said   unto   the   sick   of  the  palsy : 
"Man,  be  of  good  cheer,  thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee." 
This  caused  certain  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  sitting 
there  to  reason  within  themselves,  saying,  "Why  doth 
this  man  thus  speak?    He  blasphemeth.    Who  can  for- 
give sins  but  one,  even  God?"  (Mark  2:7). 

On  another  occasion  Jesus  was  anointed  by  a  sin-  Anointing  by 
ful  woman  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  Pharisee  as  he  aSmner 
sat  at  meat.  She  brought  a  flask  of  ointment,  perhaps 
the  same  she  had  used  in  enticing  lovers  in  the  city, 
stood  behind  Jesus  weeping  as  he  reclined  at  table, 
wet  his  feet  with  her  tears,  wiped  them  with  the 
hair  of  her  head,  kissed  his  feet  over  and  over  again, 
and  anointed  them  with  the  ointment.  It  was  a  gracious 
and  humble  expression  of  her  penitent  love,  and  Jesus 
appreciated  it.  But  it  scandalized  Simon,  his  host, 
that  a  man  considered  a  prophet  should  allow  himself 
to  be  even  touched  by  a  sinful  woman.  By  the  parable 
of  the  two  debtors  and  by  contrasting  what  the  woman 

79 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


His  Reply 


His  Disciples  to 
Forgive  Sins 


had  done  with  what  Simon  had  failed  to  do  for  his 
guest,  Jesus  justified  her.  "Wherefore  I  say  unto  thee, 
her  sins,  which  are  many,  are  forgiven,  for  she  loved 
much."  And  to  the  woman  he  said,  "Thy  sins  are 
forgiven"  (Luke  7:  47,  48).  Those  who  reclined  at 
meat  with  him  began  to  say  within  themselves,  "Who 
is  this  that  even  forgiveth  sins?" 

We  have  the  reply  of  Jesus  to  the  complaint  only 
in  the  case  of  the  man  sick  of  the  palsy,  an  incident 
reported  by  all  the  synoptic  writers.  He  said:  "Why 
reason  ye  these  things  in  your  hearts?  Wherefore 
think  ye  evil?  Whether  is  it  easier  to  say  to  the  sick 
of  the  palsy,  Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee,  or  to  say, 
Arise,  and  take  up  thy  bed,  and  walk?  But  that  ye 
may  know  that  the  Son  of  Man  hath  authority  on  earth 
to  forgive  sins  (he  saith  to  the  sick  of  the  palsy),  I 
say  unto  thee,  Arise,  take  up  thy  bed,  and  go  unto 
thy  house"  (Mark  2:  8-n).  The  points  in  the  reply 
are,  first,  it  is  evil  to  think  he  could  not  forgive  sin; 
second,  it  was  as  easy  to  cure  the  soul  as  to  cure  the 
body,  though,  third,  the  cure  of  the  body  may  give 
convincing  proof  of  his  authority  to  cure  the  soul. 

It  should  be  recalled  in  this  connection  that  Jesus 
shared  the  power  of  forgiving  sins  on  earth  with  Peter 
and  the  other  disciples.  At  the  time  of  the  great  con- 
fession, when  Peter  had  answered:  "Thou  art  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God"  (Matt.  16:  16), 
Jesus  said  among  other  things:  "I  will  give  unto  thee 
the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven :  and  whatsoever 
thou  shalt  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven :  and 
whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed 
in  heaven"  (Matt.  16:  18,  19).  Again,  in  the  con- 
versation with  the  disciples  on  true  greatness  and  for- 
giveness, Jesus  used  the  same  language  in  speaking  to 

80 


JESUS  AND  RELIGIOUS  AUTHORITIES 

all  of  them :  "Verily  I  say  unto  you,  What  things  soever 
ye  shall  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven:  and 
what  things  soever  ye  shall  loose  on  earth  shall  be 
loosed  in  heaven"  (Matt.  18:  18).  Still  again,  the 
risen  Christ  addressed  his  disciples:  "Peace  be  unto 
you:  as  the  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you" 
(John  20:  21)  ;  and  then,  breathing  on  them,  he  con- 
tinued: "Receive  ye  the  Holy  Spirit:  whose  soever 
sins  ye  forgive,  they  are  forgiven  unto  them;  whose 
soever  sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained"  (John  20:  22, 
23).  He  also  taught  that  God  would  not  forgive  one 
who  did  not  forgive,  and  that  God  would  forgive  one 
who  forgave.  The  view  of  Jesus  was  that  one  sent 
of  God  expressed  or  withheld  God's  forgiveness.  So 
he  pronounced  forgiveness,  commissioned  Peter  and 
the  other  disciples  to  do  the  same,  and  also  denned  the 
sin  which  could  not  be  forgiven,  of  which  more  pres- 
ently. 

Another  criticism  they  passed  on  him  was  calling  "My  Father" 
God  his  own  Father.    In  defending  himself  against  the 
charge  of  violating  the  Sabbath  in  healing  the  invalid 
at  the  pool  of  Bethesda,  Jesus  had  said:  "My  Father  AtBethesda 
worketh  even  until  now  and  I  work"   (John  5:   17). 
The  Jews  sought  then  all  the  more  to  kill  him,  be- 
cause in  addition  to  breaking  the   Sabbath  he  "also 
called  God  his  own  Father,  making  himself  equal  with 
God"    (John   5:   18).     The  offense  here  was  not  in 
calling  God  "Father"  but  "My  Father." 

Again,  at  the  feast  of  the  dedication,  Jesus  asserted  At  the  Feast  of 
his  sonship  and  unity  with  the  Father.     "I  and  the  the  Dedication 
Father  are  one"  (John  10:  30).    When  the  Jews  took 
up  stones  to  stone  him,  Jesus  answered  them:  "Many 
good  works  have  I  showed  you  from  the  Father;  for 
which  of  those  works  do  ye  stone  me?"     The  Jews 

81 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


His  Reply 


No  Blasphemy 
in  Sonship 


In  League  with 
Beelzebub 


answered:  "For  a  good  work  we  stone  thee  not,  but 
for  blasphemy;  and  because  that  thou  being  a  man, 
makest  thyself  God"  (John  10:  32,  33).  They  had 
charged  him  with  blasphemy  also  when  he  spoke  the 
word  of  forgiveness  to  the  man  sick  of  the  palsy. 

Jesus  justified  himself  as  the  Son  of  the  Father, 
first,  by  being  able  to  do  nothing  of  himself,  and  doing 
only  as  he  first  saw  the  Father  doing,  as  quickening 
the  dead,  judging,  receiving  honor,  and  having  life  in 
himself;  second,  by  not  bearing  witness  of  himself,  but 
having  the  witness  of  John  the  Baptist,  his  own  works, 
the  witness  of  the  Father  Himself  (at  the  baptism), 
and  of  the  Scriptures.  Jesus  explained  their  rejec- 
tion of  him  through  their  not  having  the  love  of  God 
in  themselves  and  receiving  glory  one  of  another.  Both 
this  charge  and  the  answer  of  Jesus  to  it  are  contained 
only  in  John's  gospel,  the  philosophical  interpretation 
of  the  life  of  Jesus. 

Against  the  charge  of  blasphemy  in  calling  himself 
the  Son  of  God,  Jesus  replied  by  quoting  the  Scrip- 
tures they  accepted:  "Ye  are  gods"  (Psalm  82:  6). 
If  they  to  whom  the  word  of  God  came  were  truly  called 
"gods,"  could  not  he,  sanctified  and  sent  into  the  world 
by  the  Father,  without  blasphemy  call  himself  "Son 
of  God"?  A  careful  study  of  the  defense  of  Jesus 
against  the  charge  of  blasphemy  in  calling  God  his 
own  Father  indicates  to  me  that  Jesus  meant  by  his 
Sonship  that  he  worked  in  unison  with  the  will  of  God, 
that  he  meant  something  functional  and  practical  and 
nothing  substantial  or  metaphysical.  To  the  Greek 
philosophers  doing  was  a  form  of  thinking;  to  Jesus 
thinking  was  a  form  of  doing. 

The  false  charge  against  Jesus  that  wounded  his 
sensitive  nature  most  deeply  and  rankled  most  in  his 

82 


JESUS  AND  RELIGIOUS  AUTHORITIES 

memory  was  the  charge  that  he  was  in  league  with  the 

evil  one.     In  his  third  temptation  he  had  especially 

rejected  such  a  league,  though  it  might  win  him  the 

world.     The  charge  was  first  made  just  after  the  very 

unusual  cure  of  one  possessed  with  a  blind  and  dumb  A  Blind  and 

demon.    The  multitudes  marveled  and  were  asking  the   Dujnb  Demon 

Messianic  question:  Can  this  be  the  Son  of  David? 

But  some  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  who  had  come 

from  Jerusalem,  hearing  the  question,  said :  "This  man 

doth  not  cast  out  demons  but  by  Beelzebub,  the  prince 

of  the  demons"  (Matt.  12:  24). 

Again,  on  another  occasion  he  healed  a  dumb  man   A  Dumb 
possessed  of  a  devil.     The  multitudes  marveled  and   Demon 
said,  "It  was  never  so  seen  in  Israel."    But  the  Phari- 
sees said :  "By  the  prince  of  devils  casteth  he  out  devils" 
(Matt.  9:  34). 

Once  in  Jerusalem,  at  the  feast  of  the  dedication,  At  the  Feast  of 
when  he  said,  "My  teaching  is  not  mine,  but  his  that  *"*  Dedication 
sent  me.  .  .  .  Why  seek  ye  to  kill  me?"  the  mul- 
titude caught  up  the  cry  of  their  religious  leaders  and 
said,  "Thou  hast  a  demon:  who  seeketh  to  kill  thee?" 
(John  7:  20).  This  charge,  however,  hardly  meant 
more  than  that  they  thought  he  was  beside  himself,  as 
indeed  even  his  friends  and  relatives  once  thought. 
At  the  same  feast  the  charge  was  twice  repeated  by 
the  Jews,  as  follows:  "Say  we  not  well  that  thou  art 
a  Samaritan  and  hast  a  devil?"  (John  8:  48),  and 
again,  "Now  we  know  thou  hast  a  devil.  Abraham 
is  dead,  and  the  prophets;  and  thou  sayest,  If  a  man 
keep  my  word,  he  shall  never  taste  of  death"  (John 
8:  52). 

Once  again,  after  his  discourse  on  himself  as  the  good  "He  hath 
shepherd,  many  of  the  Jews  said:  "He  hath  a  devil  aDemon" 
and  is  mad;  why  hear  ye  him?"  though  others  said: 

83 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


His  Reply 

Insanity 

Denied 


Refutation 
of  Charge  of 
League  with 
Beelzebub 


"These  are  not  the  sayings  of  him  that  hath  a  devil. 
Can  a  devil  open  the  eyes  of  the  blind?"  (John  10: 
20,  21 ). 

To  the  charge  repeatedly  made  by  the  Jews  and  once 
made  by  the  multitude  that  he  had  a  demon  of  insanity, 
Jesus  uttered  a  categorical  denial :  "I  have  not  a  demon ; 
but  I  honor  my  Father,  and  ye  dishonor  me"  (John 

8:  49). 

To  the  charge  that  he  was  in  league  with  Beelzebub, 
a  stinging  charge  that  cut  to  the  quick,  he  answered  in 
parables.  How  can  Satan  cast  out  Satan?  A  king- 
dom, city,  or  house  that  is  divided  against  itself  cannot 
stand. 

Besides,  in  retort,  Jesus  asked,  "By  whom  do  your 
sons  cast  them  out?  therefore  they  shall  be  your  judges" 
(Luke  II :  19). 

Further,  Jesus  was  spoiling  Satan's  goods,  which  he 
could  not  do  unless,  being  stronger,  he  had  first  over- 
come Satan.  Not  being  with  Satan,  he  must  be  against 
him. 

In  this  connection  Jesus,  who,  "by  the  finger  of  God," 
through  the  Holy  Spirit  had  done  his  work  which 
was  falsely  attributed  to  an  unclean  spirit,  said  the 
charge  was  an  eternal  sin  which  should  never  be  for- 
given, neither  in  this  world  nor  in  that  which  is  to 
come.  All  other  sins,  even  speaking  against  the  Son 
of  Man,  should  be  forgiven. 

From  this  definition  of  the  unpardonable  sin,  Jesus 
passed  on  to  sternest  rebuke  in  the  words:  "Ye  off- 
spring of  vipers,  how  can  ye,  being  evil,  speak  good 
things?"  (Matt.  12:  34). 

Then  he  likened  "this  evil  generation"  to  a  man 
cleansed  of  one  unclean  spirit  who  later  receives  it 
back  with  seven  others  more  evil  than  the  first.  No 

84 


JESUS  AND  RELIGIOUS  AUTHORITIES 

other  charge  against  Jesus  does  he  so  elaborately  re- 
fute. 

The  sum  of  his  refutation  is  (i)  it  is  absurd  that 
Satan  should  be  his  own  enemy;  (2)  Jesus  as  the 
enemy  of  Satan  in  working  cures  is  stronger  than  he; 
(3)  to  attribute  deeds  inspired  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
Satan  is  an  unforgivable  sin,  showing  a  dead  soul  in- 
capable of  forgiving  and  so  receiving  forgiveness;  (4) 
such  evil  things  proceed  out  of  an  evil  heart;  and  (5) 
the  evil  heart  of  this  generation  is  due  to  a  self-right- 
eous legalism,  a  religion  of  emptiness,  harboring  not 
only  uncleanness  but  seven  other  spirits  more  evil  still. 
Thus  he  returned  the  charge  of  having  an  unclean 
spirit  on  his  accusers  seven  times  over. 

But  that  the  charge  rankled  still  in  his  memory  is  Recalling 
seen  from  the  fact  that  one  thing  he  said  among  many  the  Char«e 
in  sending  out  the  twelve,  having  given  them  authority 
over  unclean  spirits,  was :  "If  they  have  called  the  mas- 
ter of  the  house  Beelzebub,  how  much  more  shall  they 
call  them  of  his  household?"  (Matt.  10:  25). 

Another  charge  brought  against  him  by  the  religious  Association 
authorities    was    associating   with   sinners.     We   saw  Wlth  Sinners 
above  how   Simon  the  Pharisee  thought  Jesus  could 
not  be  a  prophet  because  he  allowed  a  penitent  sinful 
woman  to  touch  his  feet. 

At  the  feast  made  for  Jesus  by  his  publican  disciple, 
Matthew  Levi,  in  his  house  in  Capernaum,  a  great  mul- 
titude of  publicans  and  sinners  came  and  sat  at  meat 
with  them.  On  seeing  it,  the  Pharisees  and  their  scribes 
murmured  against  his  disciples  and  said:  "Why  eateth 
your  master  with  publicans  and  sinners?"  (Matt.  9: 
11). 

On  another  occasion,  when  all  the  publicans  and 
sinners  were  drawing  near  unto  him  to  hear  him,  both 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


His  Reply 


Not  Fasting 


His  Reply 

(i)  The 
Bridegroom 


the  Pharisees  and  the  scribes  murmured,  saying,  "This 
man  receiveth  sinners  and  eateth  with  them"  (Luke 
15:  2). 

The  reply  of  Jesus  to  these  criticisms,  so  obvious  now 
to  us  that  its  significance  for  his  period  is  somewhat 
dulled,  was  first,  the  sick,  not  the  whole,  have  need 
of  a  physician ;  second,  God  desires  mercy,  not  sacrifice ; 
and  third,  the  three  parables  of  the  one  lost  sheep 
from  the  flock  of  one  hundred,  the  one  lost  piece  of 
silver  from  the  collection  of  ten  pieces,  and  the  lost 
younger  son  of  two.  There  is  doubtless  some  satire 
in  the  saying  "I  came  not  to  call  the  righteous"  (Matt. 
9:  13) — only  in  their  own  esteem  were  the  Pharisees 
righteous.  The  three  parables  teach  that  the  Pharisees 
and  scribes,  so  far  from  being  critical  and  surly,  should 
imitate  the  angels  and  rejoice  over  one  repentant  sin- 
ner. In  the  parable  of  the  lost  son,  the  attitude  of  the 
Pharisees  and  scribes  is  portrayed  in  the  elder  son 
while  the  younger  son  represents  the  "sinners." 

Another  criticism  was  that  his  disciples  did  not  fast. 
Both  the  disciples  of  John  and  the  Pharisees  were  fast- 
ing. Jesus  himself  reports  the  criticism  as  follows: 
"John  came  neither  eating  bread  nor  drinking  wine; 
and  ye  say,  He  hath  a  devil.  The  Son  of  Man  is  come 
eating  and  drinking,  and  ye  say,  Behold  a  gluttonous 
man  and  a  wine-bibber"  (Luke  7:  34).  The  difficulty 
impressed  itself  upon  John's  disciples  also,  some  of 
whom  came  to  Jesus  and  said:  "Why  do  we  and  the 
Pharisees  fast  oft,  but  thy  disciples  fast  not?"  (Matt. 
9:  14). 

Jesus  replied  to  this  difficulty  by  likening  himself 
to  a  bridegroom  and  the  disciples  to  the  sons  of  the 
bride-chamber.  The  Gospel  was  the  occasion  of  festive 
joy. 

86 


JESUS  AND  RELIGIOUS  AUTHORITIES 

On  another  occasion  Jesus  used  a  similar  figure  when   (2)  A  Wed- 
he  likened  the  generation  which   rejected  both  John   ding 
and  himself  to  children  in  the  market-place  who  would 
play  neither  funeral  nor  wedding. 

But  the  day  would  come,  he  told  the  disciples  of   (3)  A  Time  to 
John,  when  the  bridegroom  would  be  taken  away,  and  Fast 
then  his  disciples  would  fast. 

Further,  he  told  them  that  the  Gospel  was  like  new   (4)  New  Cloth 
cloth  or  new  wine,  not  to  be  used  on  old  garments   andwine 
or  put  in  old  wine-skins,  such  as  fasting. 

He  also  explained  their  difficulty  very  tactfully  to 
them  in  observing  "no  man  having  drunk  old  wine 
desireth  new"  (Luke  5:  39).  Jesus  neither  proscribed 
nor  prescribed  fasting;  he  allowed  and  encouraged  it 
under  certain  conditions  of  need,  and  gave  instructions 
concerning  it,  as  a  secret  observance  to  the  Father,  in 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

Once  upon  his  disciples  and  once  upon  himself  criti-  Eating 
cism  was  passed  for  eating  without  first  washing  the  Wlthout 
hands.     Such  washing  to  the  Pharisees  was  a  part  of 
ceremonial   cleanness;   today   it   would  be   a   part   of 
hygienic  cleanliness.     The  Pharisees  and  some  scribes   Complaint 
who  had  come  from  Jerusalem  observed  that  the  disci-  AJ*ai?s* the 
pies  ate  their  bread  with  defiled,  that  is,   unwashen 
hands.     This  was  against  the  tradition  of  the  elders, 
kept  by  the  Pharisees  and  all  the  Jews,  who  washed 
their  hands  up  to  the  elbow  before  eating;  otherwise, 
they  ate  not.     On  returning  from  the  contaminating 
market-place,  they  bathed  before  eating.    Other  things 
they  received  from  the  elders  to  hold  were  the  cere- 
monial  washings  of   cups,   pots,   and   brazen   vessels. 
So  these  Pharisees  and   scribes,   seeing  the  disciples 
eat   bread   without   first   washing  their   hands,   asked 
Jesus:  "Why  walk  not  thy  disciples  according  to  the 

87 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


Complaint 
Against  Jesus 


His  Reply 
Defending 
His  Disciples 
(i)  Hypocrisy 


(a)  Corban 


(3)  True 
Defilement 


His  Reply 
Defending 

Himself 


Pharisaic  Sys- 
tem Denounced 


tradition  of  the  elders,  but  eat  their  bread  with  defiled 
hands?"  (Mark  7:5). 

The  other  occasion  was  just  after  having  spoken  the 
parable  of  the  Good'Samaritan.  A  Pharisee  asked  Jesus 
to  dine  with  him.  The  invitation  was  accepted  and 
Jesus  went  in  and  sat  down  to  meat  without  having 
first  washed.  No  doubt  he  intentionally  and  purpose- 
fully omitted  observing  the  traditional  ceremony  of 
oblation.  But  when  the  Pharisee  saw  it,  he  marveled 
that  Jesus  had  not  first  washed  before  dinner. 

How  did  Jesus  defend  his  disciples  and  himself 
against  the  charge  of  ceremonial  defilement?  He  said, 
first,  it  was  hypocrisy  to  hold  fast  the  tradition  of  men 
and  leave  the  commandment  of  God.  Such  service  was 
of  the  lip,  not  of  the  heart. 

Second,  an  example  of  such  hypocrisy,  whereby  the 
word  of  God  was  made  void  by  the  tradition,  was  the 
Corban,  in  which  a  gift  to  the  Temple  took  the  place 
of  honoring  one's  father  and  mother  in  a  practical  way. 
"And  many  such  like  things  ye  do"  (Mark  7:  13). 

Third,  true  defilement  is  not  from  without  in,  through 
the  mouth,  but  from  within  out,  from  the  heart.  This 
instruction  Jesus  gave  to  the  multitude  as  well  as  to 
his  disciples  and  the  Pharisees.  It  caused  the  Pharisees 
to  be  offended,  and  the  meaning  of  it  had  to  be  ex- 
plained privately  to  the  disciples. 

In  further  defense  of  himself,  Jesus  said  to  his  host, 
the  astonished  Pharisee,  first,  that  a  religion  of  externals 
was  foolish,  cleansing  the  outside  of  cups  and  platters, 
and,  second,  that  a  religion  of  inward  purity  was  essen- 
tial, without  extortion  and  wickedness.  All  outward 
things  are  clean  to  those  clean  within. 

At  this  point  the  indignation  of  Jesus  against  the 
whole  Pharisaic  system  of  ritualism,  legalism,  formal- 

88 


JESUS  AND  RELIGIOUS  AUTHORITIES 

ism,  and  externalism  rose  to  the  pitch  of  woeful  denun- 
ciation. The  Pharisees  tithed  mint,  rue,  and  every  herb, 
legal  minutiae  properly  observed,  but  omitted  justice 
as  between  man  and  man  and  the  love  of  God.  They 
loved  the  chief  seats  in  the  synagogues  and  the  saluta- 
tions in  the  market-places.  "Woe  unto  you!  for  ye 
are  as  the  tombs  which  appear  not,  and  the  men  that 
walk  over  them  know  it  not"  (Luke  n :  44). 

The  eight  main  sources  of  conflict  between  Jesus  and  Summary 
the  religious  authorities  accordingly  are:  Sabbath  ob-  of  Sources 

j    r  •  XL       r         •  £    of  Conflict 

servance,  the  demand  for  a  sign,  the  forgiveness  of 
sins,  his  Sonship  to  the  Father,  how  he  cast  out  devils, 
eating  and  drinking  with  publicans  and  sinners,  not 
fasting,  and  not  washing  before  eating.  The  eight  are 
all  phases  of  the  one  contrast  between  religion  of  outer 
form  and  inner  fact. 

In  addition  to  these  conflicts  in   religious   opinion   intellectual 
and  practice  between  Jesus  and  the  ecclesiastical  au-  Traps 
thorities,  there  were  intellectual  conflicts  due  to  their 
animosity  and  their  desire  to  discredit  him  in  the  eyes 
of  all.    They  set  traps  for  him,  usually  in  the  form  of 
a  dilemma.     Should  the  adulterous  woman  be  stoned? 
"Yes"  meant  forfeiting  his  influence  with  "sinners";   Stoning  a 
"no"  meant  the  religious  offense  of  rejecting  Moses.       Sinner 

Is  it  lawful  for  a  man  to  put  away  his  wife?    "Yes"   Divorce 
meant  sanctioning  the  adultery  of  the  adulterous  gen- 
eration he  had  condemned;  "no"  meant  the  rejection 
of  Moses  who  provided  for  divorce. 

Is  it  lawful  to  give  tribute  unto  Caesar  or  no?  "Yes"  Tribute 
meant  lack  of  Jewish  patriotism;  "no"  meant  Roman 
sedition. 

"Whose    wife    shall    she   be    in   the   resurrection?"  The 
asked  the  Sadducees,  who  denied  the  resurrection  and  Resurfection 
were  ready  to  show  the  absurdity  of  her  being  the  wife 

89 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

of  any  one  or  all  of  the  seven  brothers  who  had  her. 
Jesus  rejected  their  presupposition. 

From  these  and  other  entangling  puzzles  Jesus  ex- 
tricated himself  quickly  and  successfully  through  his 
moral  insight  and  surpassing  intellectual  skill,  sometimes 
taking  the  bull  by  both  horns,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
tribute;  sometimes  escaping  between  the  horns,  as  in 
the  question  concerning  the  resurrection.  The  reli- 
gious authorities  tried,  but  did  not  succeed  in  entrapping 
him  in  his  talk.  They  were  clever,  but  he,  though  not 
learned  in  their  schools,  and  trusting  to  what  it  should 
be  given  him  to  do  and  say,  was  more  clever.  Each 
entangling  question  and  his  reply  might  be  studied  in 
detail  with  profit. 

At  times,  desiring  to  justify  themselves,  they  put  to 
him  straight  but  difficult  questions.  Such  was  the 
question,  "Who  is  my  neighbor?"  of  the  lawyer,  who 
was  doubtless  ready  to  love  his  Jewish  neighbors,  but 
not  the  half-Jewish  Samaritans.  The  parable  of  the 
Good  Samaritan  was  the  answer  Jesus  gave. 

Following  the  cleansing  of  the  Temple,  when  Jesus 
was  walking  in  the  Temple,  teaching  the  people,  and 
preaching  the  Gospel,  a  similar  question  was  put  to 
him  by  the  chief  priests,  scribes,  and  elders  of  the 
people:  "Tell  us,  by  what  authority  doest  thou  these 
things?  and  who  gave  thee  this  authority?"  Jesus 
answered  with  one  of  their  own  kind  of  questions — 
the  dilemma:  "The  baptism  of  John,  whence  was  it? 
from  heaven,  or  from  men?"  (Matt.  21:  25).  He 
had  caught  them — either  they  had  rejected  a  heavenly 
baptism  or  they  would  be  stoned  by  the  people  for 
calling  it  earthly.  With  intellectual  insincerity  they 
retreated  from  the  difficulty  by  denying  that  they  knew 
whence  the  baptism  was.  They  having  refused  to  an- 

90 


JESUS  AND  RELIGIOUS  AUTHORITIES 

swer  him,  Jesus  refused  to  tell  the  source  of  his  au- 
thority. But  he  had  suggested  to  them  that,  had  they 
treated  John  aright,  and  received  his  baptism,  they 
would  have  known  the  source  of  his  own  authority.  He 
could  answer  their  questions,  but  they  could  or  would 
not  answer  his. 

His  final  silencing  question  was,  "If  David  then  call  How  He 
him  Lord,  how  is  he  his  son?"  (Matt.  22:  45).  The  SUenced 
answer  they  could  not  find,  because  their  materialistic 
conception  of  the  Christ  was  such  that  they  could  not 
think  of  David  as  calling  his  physical  son  his  Lord.  It 
was  the  way  Jesus  had  of  indicating  the  spiritual,  not 
temporal,  character  of  the  Messiah.  The  Jewish  pre- 
conceptions prevented  their  seeing  the  point.  No  one 
was  able  to  answer  him  a  word.  From  that  day  they 
did  not  dare  ask  him  any  more  questions.  The  intel- 
lectual combat  was  over,  and  only  the  common  people 
still  heard  him  gladly.  He  could  not  be  discredited 
by  fair  means,  they  would  resort  to  foul.  Before  pass- 
ing, however,  to  the  base  strategy  whereby  the  reli- 
gious authorities  finally  got  him  in  their  power,  we 
must  briefly  review  his  teaching,  general  in  character 
and  other  than  the  preceding  events,  concerning  them. 

Jesus  combined  respect  for  the  law  of  Moses  and  Teaching 
obedience  to  it  with  rejection  of  its  living  official  repre- 
sentatives.  He  went  behind  the  letter  of  the  law  to  its 
spirit  and  he  surpassed  the  law  in  his  requirements, 
as  in  the  matters  of  retaliation,  forgiveness,  murder, 
adultery,  forswearing.  This  he  regarded  not  as  destroy- 
ing, but  as  fulfilling  the  law.  He  rejected  the  tradi- 
tional accretions  to  the  law,  made  all  meats  clean, 
cleansed  the  Temple  of  the  sacrificial  system,  and  said 
Jerusalem  as  the  capital  of  a  theocratic  state  should 
be  destroyed.  He  taught  respect  for  those  that  sit  in 

91 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

Moses'  seat,  yet  one  was  not  to  do  as  they  did.  Even 
the  Sabbath  day's  journey  he  respected,  which  perhaps 
is  his  nearest  recognition  of  one  of  the  traditions  of 
the  elders.  Only  the  Gentile,  not  the  Jewish,  Chris- 
tians in  the  early  Church  were  exempted  from  the 
law  of  Moses  in  circumcision,  etc.  He  repeatedly  called 
for  the  view  of  Moses  as  his  point  of  departure  in  an- 
swering a  question.  "What  is  written  in  the  law? 
How  readest  thou?"  (Luke  10:  26).  "What  did  Moses 
command  you?"  (Mark  10:  3).  With  his  two  major 
commandments  he  summarized  Moses  and  the  prophets. 
He  took  the  text  for  his  social  mission  from  Isaiah. 
Twice  he  recognized  in  John  the  Elijah  who  was  to 
come,  though  John  himself  had  said  he  was  not  Elijah. 
He  recognized  that  a  scribe  who  had  been  made  a  disci- 
ple of  the  Kingdom  would,  like  a  householder,  bring 
forth  out  of  his  treasure  things  new  and  old. 

Jesus  was  thus  conservative  on  the  essentials  of  the 
law,  progressive  in  substituting  the  spirit  for  the  letter 
and  the  inner  virtues  for  the  sacrificial  system,  and 
radical  in  rejecting  the  traditions  of  the  elders.  John 
sums  up  the  situation  thus:  "For  the  law  was  given 
by  Moses,  but  grace  [spirit]  and  truth  [sincerity]  came 
by  Jesus  Christ"  (John  i:  17). 

Yet  Jesus  recognized  in  his  sense  of  unity  with  the 
Father,  and  so  in  his  personal  witness  to  spiritual  truth, 
something  greater  than  anything  that  had  preceded 
him.  This  greater  thing  was  the  fulfilment  of  the  law; 
it  was  new  cloth,  new  wine;  it  was  greater  than  the 
Temple,  than  Solomon,  than  Jonah;  it  existed  before 
Abraham;  it  was  God's  idea  of  what  a  man  ought  to 
be;  according  to  John,  it  was  in  the  beginning,  it  was 
with  God,  it  was  God.  The  consciousness  which  Jesus 
had  of  God  as  Father  and  the  results  flowing  there- 

92 


JESUS  AND  RELIGIOUS  AUTHORITIES 

from  made  even  the  jots  and  tittles  of  the  law  pass 
away  for  him  and  his  true  followers. 

There  is  development  in  the  attitude  of  Jesus  toward  Changes  in 
the    religious    authorities    from    avoidance    of    giving  ***** 
offense,  to  defense  against  criticism,  to  victorious  in-  Authorities 
tellectual  combat,  to  open  denunciation  and  public  pil- 
loring  in  parables.    He  early  anticipated  that  his  posi- 
tion would  in  the  end  cost  him  his  life,  according  to 
the  Scripture.    We  have  now  to  consider  his  warning 
against  their  practices  and  his  denunciation  of  them. 

For  his  disciples  he  laid  down  the  principle :  "Except  The  Principle 
your  righteousness  shall  exceed  the  righteousness  of 
the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter  from  the 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  (Matt.  5:  20).  The  Kingdom 
essential  difference  was  between  righteousness  before 
men  and  before  God.  Three  illustrations  are  given — 
alms,  prayer,  and  fasting.  In  giving  alms,  instead  of 
sounding  the  trumpet,  the  left  hand  is  not  to  know  what 
the  right  hand  doeth.  In  praying,  instead  of  standing 
in  the  synagogues  and  on  the  street  corners,  one  is  to 
enter  into  his  inner  chamber  and  shut  the  door.  In 
fasting,  instead  of  disfiguring  the  face,  the  face  is  to 
be  washed  and  the  head  anointed.  "Else  ye  have  no 
reward  with  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven"  (Matt. 
6 :  i ) .  Righteousness  done  before  men  to  be  seen  of 
them  is  hypocrisy.  This  principle  and  its  applications 
appear  as  part  of  the  charter  of  the  Kingdom  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

On  hearing  the  words  of  faith  of  the  Roman  cen-  "The  Sons  of 
turion,  Jesus  marveled  at  him,  and  said  to  the  multi- 
tude  that  he  had  not  found  so  great  faith  even  in 
Israel,  that  many  should  come  from  the  east  and  the 
west  and  recline  with  the  patriarchs  in  the  Kingdom  of 
heaven,  but  that  "the  sons  of  the  kingdom,"  that  is, 

93 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


The  Rulers 
not  Shep- 
herds, nor 
Harvesters 


Maltreatment 
of  Prophets 


Blind  Guides 


the  privileged  ones  in  Israel,  from  whom  more  than 
self-righteousness  was  due,  should  be  cast  into  the 
outer  darkness. 

The  religious  authorities  were  to  Jesus  no  shepherds 
of  the  people.  Repeatedly  he  had  compassion  on  the 
multitudes  as  sheep  having  no  shepherd.  So  it  was 
before  sending  forth  the  twelve.  The  multitudes  "were 
distressed  and  scattered,  as  sheep  not  having  a  shep- 
herd" (Matt.  9:  36).  Among  them  he  saw  a  plenteous 
harvest,  but  few  laborers.  The  Lord  of  the  harvest 
should  be  entreated  to  thrust  forth  laborers  into  his 
harvest.  The  twelve  were  to  go  two  by  two  "to  the 
lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel"  (Matt.  10:  6).  So 
it  was  before  feeding  the  five  thousand ;  he  had  compas- 
sion on  the  multitudes,  because  they  were  as  sheep  not 
having  a  shepherd;  and  he  welcomed  them,  and  spoke 
to  them  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  healed  them.  To 
the  Canaanitish  woman  crying  after  them  in  the  borders 
of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  Jesus  said  at  first  that  he  himself 
was  "not  sent  but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel"  (Matt.  15:  24). 

On  sending  forth  the  twelve  on  their  mission,  Jesus 
warned  them  to  beware  of  men  who  should  deliver  them 
up  to  councils  and  scourge  them  in  their  synagogues. 
Likewise  the  hypocrites  were  warned  to  their  faces 
against  killing,  crucifying,  scourging,  and  persecuting 
prophets  and  wise  men.  And  there  was  the  lament 
over  Jerusalem. 

When  the  disciples  reported  that  the  Pharisees  were 
caused  to  stumble  at  his  teaching  concerning  inward 
cleansing,  he  said  that  every  plant  not  planted  by  his 
heavenly  Father  should  be  rooted  up.  "Let  them  alone : 
they  are  blind  guides.  And  if  the  blind  guide  the 
blind,  both  shall  fall  into  a  pit"  (Matt.  15:  14). 

94 


JESUS  AND  RELIGIOUS  AUTHORITIES 

Having  just  refused  the  demand  of  the  Pharisees  and  The  Leaven 
the  Sadducees  for  a  sign,  he  charged  his  disciples  to  «*  the  Re- 
take heed  and  beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees 


and  the  Sadducees  and  of  Herod.    At  first  they  thought  Rulers 
he  was  rebuking  them  for  having  forgotten  to  take 
bread,  but  he  made  them  understand  that  he  spoke  not 
of  the  leaven  of  bread,  but  of  their  teaching.     Later 
he  defined  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  as  hypocrisy. 

Jesus  rejected  the  hint  of  legalism  among  his  disci-  Legaiism 
pies.  Peter  wanted  to  count  the  number  of  times  that  ^J"***1 
a  sinning  brother  might  be  forgiven.  "Until  seven 
times?"  Jesus  replied  that  seven  times  was  a  measure 
of  forgiveness  for  a  sinning,  repentant  brother  for 
only  one  day.  Then,  transcending  the  numerical  view- 
point, he  added,  "Until  seventy  times  seven."  Then 
he  spoke  the  parable  of  the  king  reckoning  with  his 
servants,  showing  that  man's  offenses  against  man  are 
small,  and  should  be  forgiven  from  the  heart,  in  order 
that  forgiveness  for  great  offenses  against  the  heavenly 
Father  may  be  received. 

When  Jesus  pronounced  woe  upon  the  Pharisees,  as  Woe  Upon 
concealed  tombs  because  of  their  outer  cleansing  and  *e  ^awfer 

.   ,  (Scribes) 

inner  extortion  and  wickedness,  the  lawyers  pres- 
ent felt  themselves  reproached  also.  Jesus  then  pro- 
nounced woe  upon  the  lawyers  because  first,  they  put 
grievous  burdens  on  men  without  assisting  in  carrying 
them;  second,  they  built  the  tombs  of  the  prophets 
whom  their  fathers  killed,  thereby  witnessing  and  con- 
senting to  such  deeds;  and  third,  they  took  away  the 
key  of  knowledge,  not  entering  themselves  and  hinder- 
ing those  that  were  entering.  The  class  afflicted  by 
the  lawyers'  reading  of  the  law  Jesus  doubtless  espe- 
cially had  in  mind  in  his  invitation  to  those  that  "labor 
and  are  heavy  laden." 

95 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


The  Woes  of 
the  Hypocrites 


Teachings 
Against  the 
Rulers  in 
Parables 


Jesus  used  the  term  "hypocrites"  of  the  two  classes, 
the  Pharisees  and  the  scribes,  who  were  the  same  as 
the  lawyers.  After  putting  the  Sadducees  to  silence  in 
his  answer  to  their  question  about  the  resurrection, 
and  also  the  Pharisees  with  his  question  about  the 
Christ  as  the  son  of  David,  Jesus  warned  both  the  mul- 
titudes and  his  disciples  against  the  "hypocrites."  Their 
religion  was  only  a  show;  they  devour  widows'  houses 
while  for  a  pretence  making  long  prayers ;  their  words 
must  be  obeyed,  since  they  sit  on  Moses'  seat,  but  their 
deeds  must  not  be  imitated;  they  impose,  but  do  not 
lift,  burdens;  they  love  to  be  called  of  men  "Rabbi"; 
they  shut  the  Kingdom  of  heaven  against  men;  they 
victimize  their  proselytes;  they  are  blind  fools  and 
guides  to  distinguish  between  the  Temple  and  its  gold, 
the  altar  and  its  gift,  in  the  oath ;  they  tithe  mint,  anise, 
and  cummin,  and  leave  undone  justice,  mercy,  and 
faith,  thus  straining  out  the  gnat  and  swallowing  the 
camel;  they  cleanse  the  outside  of  cups  and  platters, 
but  themselves  within  are  full  of  extortion  and  excess ; 
they  are  "whited  sepulchres,"  beautiful  without  and 
unclean  within;  they  build  the  sepulchres  of  the 
prophets  slain  by  their  fathers — self-righteously  in  each 
case.  And  then,  with  a  final  crack  of  the  whip  of 
violent  denunciation:  "Ye  serpents,  ye  offspring  of 
vipers,  how  shall  ye  escape  the  judgment  of  hell?" 
(Matt.  23:  33). 

Such  warnings '  were  open  and  direct.  Jesus  also 
used  the  method  of  parable  in  attacking  the  religious 
leaders.  To  certain  ones  that  trusted  in  themselves, 
that  they  were  righteous  and  set  all  others  at  naught, 
he  spoke  the  parable  of  the  Pharisee  and  the  publican 
praying  in  the  Temple.  The  barren  fig  tree,  having  the 
leaves  of  promise  but  no  fruit,  he  cursed  as  typical  of 

96 


JESUS  AND  RELIGIOUS  AUTHORITIES 

the  showy  but  empty  religion  of  the  leaders.  The 
parable  of  the  man  with  the  two  sons  sent  to  work  in 
his  vineyard  showed  them  that  the  publicans  and  har- 
lots precede  them  in  the  Kingdom.  The  parable  of  the 
householder  and  the  wicked  husbandmen  taught  them 
that  the  Kingdom  should  be  taken  away  from  them  and 
given  to  a  nation  bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof. 
The  parable  of  the  marriage  feast  taught  them  that 
many  are  called  but  few  are  chosen. 

Hearing  these  parables,   the   chief  priests,   scribes,   Safety  for 
and  Pharisees  perceived  he  was  speaking  of  them.  Only   Jesus  ™ 
their   fear  of  the  multitudes,   who  took  Jesus   for  a  esenc* 


prophet,  restrained  them  from  laying  hold  on  him  then  Multitudes 
and  there.    For  the  people  repeatedly  noticed  that  he 
taught  as  one  having  authority,  speaking  his  own  in- 
dependent mind,  not  as  the  scribes,  quoting  the  opinions 
of  others. 

Though  fearing  to  lay  hands  on  him,  the  leaders   Objections 

dogged  his  steps.    The  Hosanna  song  of  the  multitude   *°the 

,oc  Hosanna 

of  the  disciples  at  the  humble  triumphal  entry  into   song 

Jerusalem  they  could  not  abide.  Some  of  the  Pharisees 
from  the  multitude  said  unto  him,  "Master,  rebuke  thy 
disciples"  (Luke  19:  39).  They  even  complained  to 
him  when  some  of  the  children  in  the  Temple  caught 
up  and  continued  the  same  song:  "Hearest  thou  what 
these  are  saying?"  (Matt.  21:  1  6).  He  gave  them  no 
comfort  by  denying  that  he  was  the  "King  of  Israel" 
in  the  sense  the  palm-waving  singers  meant  it.  He 
stopped  their  objections  by  reference  to  the  sympathy 
of  the  stones  and  the  perfect  praise  of  the  children. 

Not  that  all  the  Pharisees  were  opposed  to  him  or  he  Good  Pharisees 
to  them.    Nicodemus  was  one  of  the  rulers  of  the  Jews. 
It  was   certain  Pharisees  who  once   warned   him  to 
escape  the  domain  of  Herod  who  was  seeking  his  life. 

97 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


Base 

Strategy  and 
Violence 


Secret  of  the 
Hostility 
to  Jesus 


To  one  of  the  scribes,  answering  discreetly,  he  said: 
"Thou  art  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God"  (Mark 
12 :  34) .  Many  even  of  the  rulers  believed  on  him,  but 
confessed  it  not,  fearing  excommunication  from  the 
synagogue  by  the  Pharisees,  still  loving  the  glory  from 
men  more  than  the  glory  from  God.  To  the  separatist 
Pharisees  it  seemed  a  thing  incredible  that  any  of  their 
sect  or  of  the  rulers  should  believe  on  him. 

The  religious  authorities,  having  had  their  open 
criticisms  parried  successfully,  having  failed  to  entrap 
him  in  his  talk,  being  unable  to  answer  his  questions 
in  intellectual  combat,  having  been  openly  excoriated, 
and  suffering  from  the  sting  of  his  parables — the  more 
effective  because  veiled — finally  resorted  to  base 
strategy  and  physical  violence.  Even  so,  he  might 
easily  have  escaped  from  their  hands,  as  indeed  he  had 
done  many  times  before,  had  he  not  recognized  that 
his  hour  was  now  come.  They  were  Pharisees  till  the 
end,  being  murderers  at  heart  and  in  fact,  but  not  on 
a  feast-day,  fearing  the  people,  nor  on  the  Sabbath,  nor 
would  they  enter  Pilate's  palace,  fearing  defilement  for 
the  passover. 

What  was  the  secret  of  the  hostility  of  the  Pharisees 
to  Jesus?  It  was  self-preservation.  At  a  council  held 
by  the  chief  priests  and  the  Pharisees  the  question  was : 
"What  do  we?  for  this  man  doeth  many  signs.  If 
we  let  him  thus  alone,  all  men  will  believe  on  him; 
and  the  Romans  will  come  and  take  away  both  our 
place  and  our  nation"  (John  n  :  47-50).  It  was  at  this 
council  that  the  high  priest  himself,  Caiaphas,  who  was 
later  to  be  his  judge,  deliberately  suggested  death  as 
the  answer  to  their  question.  This  counsel  was  ac- 
cepted. At  the  triumphal  entry  the  Pharisees  said 
among  themselves:  "Behold  how  ye  prevail  nothing; 

98 


JESUS  AND  RELIGIOUS  AUTHORITIES 

lo,  the  world  is  gone  after  him"  (John  12:  19).  It 
was  evident  to  Pilate  that  through  envy  the  chief  priests 
had  delivered  him  up. 

In  studying  the  relation  of  Jesus  to  the  religious  Final  Events 
authorities,  it  is  not  necessary  to  trace  in  detail  how 
they  accomplished  their  purpose  through  the  betrayal 
by  Judas;  the  arrest  without  resistance;  the  farcical 
trial  before  Annas,  Caiaphas,  and  the  Council;  the 
double  set  of  religious  and  political  charges — falsities 
and  misunderstanding;  the  Council's  acting  as  his  ac- 
cusers before  Pilate;  stirring  up  the  multitude  to  de- 
mand the  release  of  the  robber  Barabbas,  not  Christ; 
their  failure  to  secure  from  Pilate  the  superscription 
desired;  their  mockery  of  him  on  the  cross;  his  burial 
by  two  of  their  rulers,  his  secret  disciples;  and  their 
request  of  Pilate  for  a  guard  for  the  sepulchre.  The 
request  for  the  guard,  their  last  act  concerning  their 
victim,  carries  tacit  admission  that  the  crucifixion  was 
wrong:  if  his  disciples  should  steal  him  away  and  say: 
"He  is  risen  from  the  dead,"  "the  last  error  will  be 
worst  than  the  first"  (Matt.  27:  64).  Under  all  these 
unparalleled  circumstances  Jesus  bore  himself  with  the 
submission  of  strength  before  those  who  so  disgrace- 
fully sat  on  Moses'  seat. 

Thus  we  have  briefly  traced  the  long  story  of  the  Summary 
relations  of  Jesus  to  the  religious  authorities  of  his  day. 
It  was  one  of  the  two  or  three  major  factors  in  his 
public  life.  We  have  seen  how  the  religious  life  of 
his  day  shaped  his  early  years;  how  he  sought  to 
avoid  giving  offense  to  the  religious  authorities;  how 
they  criticised  his  conduct  and  teaching  and  his  self- 
defense;  how  he  escaped  their  intellectual  traps;  how 
in  turn  they  were  caught  in  the  toils  of  his  questions; 
how  he  openly  denounced  them  sternly,  and  spoke  many 

99 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


His  Social 
Attitude 
Toward 
Religion 


parables  concerning  them;  and  how  finally  through 
baseness,  violence,  and  the  miscarriage  of  justice,  they 
overcame  him,  he  surrendering  himself. 

We  undertook  this  study  of  the  social  attitude  of 
Jesus  toward  the  most  important  interest  of  human  life 
as  officially  organized  in  his  day  with  a  view  to  apply- 
ing it,  though  briefly,  to  the  social  attitude  of  his  fol- 
lowers today  toward  organized  religion.  As  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees  regarded  themselves  as  sons  of  Abra- 
ham, so  the  churches  today  regard  themselves  as  Chris- 
tian. What  would  Jesus  say  to  the  churches?  And 
what  to  us? 

His  attitude  has  nothing  in  it  of  religious  stand-pat- 
ness  or  of  religious  peace  at  any  price.  His  was  a 
bold  though  gentle  spirit,  aroused  to  energetic  attack 
by  the  formal,  external,  ceremonial,  and  legal  religion 
of  his  day.  He  conserved  essentials,  he  relegated 
non-essentials,  he  advanced  to  a  position  of  freedom 
and  individual  initiative  in  religion.  This  he  did  under 
the  sense  of  constant  and  immediate  inspiration  from 
the  Father  above.  He  respected  the  law  and  its  offices, 
though  transcending  it.  He  received  criticism  and  re- 
joiced in  meeting  it.  He  recognized  verbal  nets  spread 
to  entangle  him  and  was  able  to  avoid  them.  He  met 
question  with  successful  counter-question.  He  warned 
against  the  leaven  of  his  enemies  privately  and  de- 
nounced them  publicly.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  alienate 
easy  friends  and  to  make  enemies  of  critics  by  witness- 
ing to  the  truth.  He  made  no  compromise  with  evil 
and  played  no  trick  on  his  soul.  He  foresaw  death  as 
the  price  of  his  position,  cheerfully  paid  the  price,  con- 
sidered he  had  overcome  the  world,  and  comforted  his 
friends  the  while.  Such  was  his  social  attitude  to- 
ward religion.  To  his  followers  he  says:  "Have  salt 
100 


JESUS  AND  RELIGIOUS  AUTHORITIES 

in  yourselves"  (Mark  9:  50),  "Follow  me"  (John  12: 
26),  "As  the  Father  hath  sent  me,  so  send  I  you" 
(John  20:  21 ). 

In  the  synagogues,  the  Temple,  and  among  the  reli-  What  He 
gious  rulers  of  his  day  he  saw  men  making  long  Sawinth 
prayers  and  devouring  widows'  houses,  observing  the  Religion 
Sabbath  but  not  relieving  the  sick  and  needy,  praying 
before  men  but  not  before  God,  meeting  purchasers 
but  not  God  in  the  Temple,  tithing  vegetables  but  neg- 
lecting justice  and  mercy,  adulterers  avoiding  cere- 
monial defilements,  extortioners  washing  the  outside 
of  cups,  doctors  of  the  law  dishonoring  its  spirit  and 
letter,  ostentatious  alms-givers  and  fasters — a  religion 
of  leaves  without  fruit.  "Howbeit,  when  the  Son  of 
Man  cometh,  shall  he  find  faith  on  the  earth?"  That 
was  his  question  of  the  future.  By  "faith"  he  meant 
life  in  vital  touch  with  the  heavenly  Father.  "Why  call 
ye  me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  that  I  say?" 
(Luke  6:  46). 

What  would  Jesus  say  to  us  and  to  the  churches?  Spirituality 
It  is  a  large  question  and  we  cannot  be  sure,  but  my 
impression  is  that  in  his  real  presence  we  should  first 
spiritualize  and  then  socialize  our  lives,  and  our 
churches  would  first  spiritualize  their  vision  and  then 
socialize  their  programs. 


101 


STUDY  X 


Principles,  not 
Programs 


JESUS  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM 

Social  reform  according  to  Jesus  derives  from  prin- 
ciples, not  expedients  or  programs.  Though  Jesus  no- 
where enumerates  these,  we  may  reduce  them  to  nine. 
They  are  principles,  that  is,  unaffected  by  the  social 
conditions  to  which  they  apply;  they  are  not  an  in- 
elastic social  constitution.  They  are  the  mustard  seed 
growing  into  the  greatest  of  man's  sheltering  religions ; 
they  are  the  leaven  leavening  the  whole  lump  of  human 
society.  Jesus  nowhere  gives  a  systematic  statement 
of  them;  he  simply  lives  them  and  when  the  occasion 
demands,  he  voices  them. 

Nine  Principles  These  principles  are:  (i)  love  to  God  and  man;  (2) 
the  fatherhood  of  God;  (3)  the  brotherhood  of  man; 
(4)  the  infinite  worth  of  the  individual;  (5)  as  a  con- 
sequence of  all  the  preceding,  full  recognition  of  women 
and  children;  (6)  an  ideal  of  divine  perfection;  (7) 
life  as  achievement  for  God;  (8)  the  influence  of  per- 
sonality; and  (9)  progress  by  growth. 

A  few  words  concerning  each  of  these.  When  the 
scribe  asked  Jesus  one  of  the  much-debated  questions 
among  the  students  of  the  law,  namely,  Which  is  the 
greatest  of  all  the  commandments?  Jesus  replied,  pur- 
posely using  the  language  of  the  Old  Testament :  "Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and 
with  all  thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with 
all  thy  strength"  (Mark  12:  30).  But,  being  unwill- 
ing to  separate  in  either  thought  or  fact  the  love  of 
God  from  the  love  of  man,  Jesus  went  on  to  add :  "The 
102 


Love  to  God 
and  Man 


JESUS  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM 

second  is  this,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself" 
(Mark  12:  31),  thus  bringing  together  what  Deuter- 
onomy and  Leviticus  separate,  and  forever  uniting  in 
Christianity  the  claims  of  religion  and  morality.  Against 
the  Jews  he  lodged  the  charge:  "But  I  know  you,  that 
ye  have  not  the  love  of  God  in  yourselves"  (John  5: 
42).  No  other  commandment  is  greater  than  these 
inseparable  two.  The  scribes  and  Pharisees  were  hypo- 
crites because  they  rightly  tithed  mint,  anise,  and  cum- 
min for  God,  but  wrongly  left  undone  justice  and 
mercy  for  man — "the  weightier  matters  of  the  law" 
(Matt.  23:  23).  They  were  hypocrites,  "making  void 
the  word  of  God"  (Mark  7:  13),  because  they  gave  to 
the  Temple  money  with  which  they  should  have  sup- 
ported their  parents.  The  Pharisees,  objecting  to  the 
disciples'  plucking  the  ears  of  corn  on  the  Sabbath 
day,  did  not  know  the  meaning  of  Hosea's  words  put 
in  the  mouth  of  Jehovah:  "I  desire  mercy  and  not 
sacrifice"  (Matt.  12:  7).  The  ethical  service  of  man 
is  better  than  the  ceremonial  service  of  God.  The  gift 
is  not  to  be  offered  before  the  altar  of  God  until  one's 
offended  brother  is  reconciled.  The  parable  of  the  Good 
Samaritan  seems  to  teach  that  the  neighbor  we  are  to 
love  as  ourselves  is  any  one  in  need  whom  we  can 
benefit.  So  far  from  hating  any  human  being,  even 
our  enemies  are  to  be  the  objects  of  love  and  prayer. 
The  Golden  Rule  is  not  limited  in  its  statement  to  race 
or  place.  Such  love  for  God  and  man  will  inevitably 
effect  social  as  well  as  individual  transformation. 

"We  love  because  he  first  loved  us,"  says  John   (I   The  Father- 
John  4:  19).    The  parable  of  the  Unforgiving  Servant  hoodof  God 
teaches  that,  in  view  of  God's  forgiveness  to  man,  it 
is  man's  simple  duty,  and  not  a  matter  of  magnanimity, 
to  forgive  one's  brother.    Supporting  the  love  of  man 
103 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

to  man  is  the  love  of  God  to  man,  who  makes  his  sun 
shine  and  sends  the  rain  on  the  evil  and  the  good. 
From  the  time  Jesus  as  a  lad  of  twelve  spoke  of  God  in 
the  Temple  till  he  commended  his  spirit  to  Him  on 
the  cross  as  a  young  man  of  nearly  thirty-three,  God 
was  regarded  as  Father.  In  the  five  recorded  prayers 
of  Jesus,  God  is  addressed  only  as  Father.  God  is 
referred  to  once  as  "the  Great  King"  (Matt.  5:  35), 
and  once  as  "the  Lord  of  the  harvest"  (Luke  10:  2). 
The  very  nature  of  God  is  fatherliness,  giving  good 
things  to  them  that  ask  him,  even  the  Holy  Spirit. 
If  men,  who  are  evil,  give  good  gifts  unto  their  chil- 
dren, Jesus'  argument  was,  how  much  more  shall  the 
heavenly  Father  do  so?  The  parable  of  the  Prodigal 
Son  teaches  that  the  Father  watches  and  longs  for  the 
wandering  boy's  return  and  finally  welcomes  him  with 
kisses,  raiment,  and  merry-making.  Jesus  regarded 
God  as  the  Father  not  because  He  is  the  Creator  of 
all,  but  because  He  loves  all,  as  John  caught  from  him 
the  idea  that  "God  is  love."  The  word  "Father"  occurs 
forty-five  times  in  Matthew,  five  in  Mark,  seventeen  in 
Luke,  and  ninety  in  John.  The  Father  seeks  worshipers 
in  spirit  and  in  truth.  Jesus  taught  his  disciples  to 
pray  the  social  prayer  beginning  "Our  Father,"  and  he 
sent  them  the  message:  "I  ascend  unto  my  Father  and 
your  Father"  (John  20:  17).  The  earthly  kingdom  was 
that  of  the  Father.  It  is  difficult  to  single  out  the 
primary  principle  in  the  thinking  of  Jesus ;  perhaps  we 
should  not  be  far  wrong  in  making  it  the  universal 
Fatherhood  of  God.  Jesus  took  the  idea  of  God  as  the 
Father  of  Israel  or  of  some  individual  Israelite  and 
widened  it  into  the  absolute  Father,  "Our  Father," 
the  Father  of  all  men  everywhere.  It  is  a  socializing 
conception. 

104 


JESUS  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM 

There  are  three  senses  of  the  term  brotherhood,  first,  The  Brother- 
a  family  relation;  second,  a  spiritual  relation;  third,  hood  of  Man 
a  natural  universal  human  relationship.  Of  these  three 
the  first  is  due  to  heredity,  the  second  to  the  perform- 
ance of  the  Father's  will,  the  third  to  the  all-Father- 
hood of  God.  Of  these  the  first  is  the  closest  physically, 
the  second  is  the  most  intimate,  and  the  third  is  the 
widest.  Jesus  had  brothers  (or  relatives)  in  the 
Nazareth  home,  spiritual  brothers  in  the  circle  of  his 
disciples,  and  human  brothers  among  all  the  sons  of 
men — he  "the  Son  of  man."  Jesus  subordinates  the 
family  to  the  spiritual  relationship  ("Call  no  man  your 
father  on  the  earth,  one  is  your  Father,  even  he  who 
is  in  heaven,"  Matt.  23:  9;  "Whosoever  shall  do  the 
will  of  my  Father  in  heaven  the  same  is  my  brother  and 
sister,  and  mother,"  Matt.  12:  50),  though  illustrating 
and  emphasizing  filial  duties,  and  presupposes  as  well 
as  clearly  teaches  the  universal  brotherhood  of  man. 
This  third  meaning  of  the  term  is  the  one  with  social 
dynamic  in  it.  We  are  to  love  not  merely  our  brothers 
in  the  flesh,  as  even  "the  Gentiles"  do;  not  merely  our 
brothers  in  the  spirit,  as  even  the  Jews  were  ready  to 
love  their  Jewish  "neighbors,"  not  recognizing  the 
despised  half-Jewish  Samaritans  as  neighbors  to  be 
loved;  but  our  brothers  in  nature  as  fellow  human 
beings.  Whosoever  is  angry  with  such  a  "brother"  is 
in  danger  of  the  judgment;  whosoever  uses  to  such  a 
"brother"  the  contemptuous  term  Raca  is  in  danger  of 
the  council;  whosoever  has  offended  such  a  "brother" 
must  first  placate  him  before  offering  a  gift  at  the 
altar;  the  mote  in  such  a  "brother's"  eye  is  not  to  be 
noticed  when  there  is  a  beam  in  one's  own  eye,  but 
first  the  beam  is  to  be  cast  out  of  one's  own  eye  before 
one  can  see  clearly  to  cast  the  mote  out  of  one's 
105 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

"brother's"  eye.  The  same  teaching  on  the  hill  that 
presents  God  as  the  Father  of  all  mankind  (Matt.  5: 
45),  not  merely  the  Father  of  the  Jews,  or  even  of 
the  members  of  the  Kingdom,  presents  our  fellow 
human  being  as  our  brother,  whom  we  are  to  treat 
in  the  ways  indicated,  "that  ye  may  be  sons  of  your 
Father  who  is  in  heaven"  (Matt.  5:  45).  The  "brother" 
is  to  be  forgiven  not  formally  seven  times,  but,  in- 
definitely, seventy  times  seven.  The  Father  in  anger 
will  punish  those  who  do  not  from  their  hearts  forgive 
every  one  his  "brother"  (Matt.  18:  34,  35).  That  the 
term  "brother"  is  here  used  universally  and  not  merely 
with  reference  to  the  Christian  brotherhood  is  clear 
from  the  social  safe-guard  of  the  "Lord's  prayer": 
"For  if  ye  forgive  men  their  trespasses  your  Heavenly 
Father  will  also  forgive  you.  But  if  ye  forgive  not  men 
their  trespasses,  neither  will  your  Father  forgive  your 
trespasses"  (Matt.  6:  14,  15).  The  parable  of  the  Good 
Samaritan  widens  the  narrowly  construed  Jewish  term 
"neighbor"  to  mean  "brother-man."  The  parable  of  the 
Lost  Son  shows  that  the  publicans  and  sinners,  typi- 
fied by  the  younger  brother,  are  brothers  really  of  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees,  typified  by  the  elder  brother,  the 
father,  typifying  God  himself,  saying  to  the  elder 
brother :  "This  thy  brother  was  dead  and  is  alive  again ; 
and  was  lost  and  is  found"  (Luke  15:  32).  In  the 
picture  of  the  Last  Judgment  drawn  by  Jesus  the  sheep 
are  separated  from  the  goats  by  deeds  of  mercy  to  "one 
of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren"  (Matt.  25:  40).  In 
saying  this  Jesus  made  himself  one  with  all,  the  Brother 
of  man ;  it  is  implied  also  in  the  title  by  which  he  most 
frequently  designates  himself,  "the  Son  of  man";  im- 
plied also  in  his  being  the  Son  of  Mary,  David,  Abra- 
ham, and  Adam  (Luke  3:  38).  The  real  sensing  of 
106 


JESUS  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM 

such  a  principle  of  brotherhood  means  release  of  tre- 
mendous social  motive,  whereby  men  may  be  won  to 
doing  the  will  of  God  and  loving  one  another,  in  con- 
sequence of  which  they  become  members  of  the  new 
spiritual  brotherhood  in  Christ  and  subjects  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  The  spiritual  brotherhood  is  co- 
extensive with  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  already  dis- 
cussed. 

The  fourth  principle  of  Jesus  germinal  of  social  re-   infinite 
form  is  the  infinite  worth  of  the  individual  soul.     A   Worth  of  t 

Individual 

man  is  not  profited  by  gaining  the  whole  world  and  soul 
losing  his  own  soul.  There  is  no  suitable  exchange  for 
the  soul.  We  are  not  to  fear  those  who  can  destroy 
the  body  but  Him  who  can  destroy  both  body  and  soul 
in  hell.  The  Rich  Fool  in  the  parable  made  the  mis- 
take of  providing  for  his  body,  but  not  for  his  soul. 
By  its  nature  the  soul  is  eternal  and  one  of  two 
destinies  awaits  it  (Matt.  25:  46).  In  his  conduct,  in 
the  face  of  the  worth  of  each  individual  soul,  Jesus 
took  little  account  of  social  distinctions,  accepting  an 
invitation  to  dine  with  Simon,  the  Pharisee,  and  receiv- 
ing there  at  the  same  time  the  worshiping  woman  who 
was  a  sinner.  The  striking  argument  for  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul,  upon  which  its  infinite  worth 
depends,  as  stated  by  Jesus,  is  recalled  by  all  three  of 
the  synoptic  writers:  "He  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead, 
but  of  the  living"  (Mark  12:  27).  Man  is  better  than 
a  sheep!  The  Pharisees  regarded  the  multitude,  not 
knowing  the  law,  as  accursed,  but  Jesus,  individualizing 
the  multitude,  warned  his  disciples  to  call  no  brother 
Raca.  He  teaches  that  God  is  unwilling  that  even  one 
soul  should  be  lost  in  the  three  parables  of  the  Lost 
Sheep,  the  Lost  Piece  of  Money,  and  the  Lost  Son. 
The  great  institution  of  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man, 

107 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

not  man  for  the  Sabbath.  This  principle  of  the  worth 
of  the  individual  has  a  leveling,  a  democratic  influ- 
ence in  society,  and  tends  to  make  each  one  in  a  true 
sense  his  brother's  keeper. 

Recognition  The  recognition  of  women  and  children  is  a  kind 

of  corollary  of  the  principles  of  brotherhood  and  in- 
dividuality. "Now  Jesus  loved  Martha,  and  her  sister, 
and  Lazarus"  (John  n:  5).  Evidently  Jesus  treated 
the  sisters  as  in  no  way  inferior  to  the  brother.  He 
especially  enjoyed  conversing  with  Mary.  Jesus  gave 
his  profoundest  thought  about  God  to  the  Samaritan 
woman,  even  his  speaking  with  whom  caused  his  disci- 
plies  to  marvel,  though  they  said  nothing.  He  received 
sustenance  from  a  company  of  ministering  women.  He 
performed  a  work  of  mercy  for  a  Syrophoenician  woman. 
Until  the  time  of  the  wedding  in  Cana  his  mother 
Mary  had  evidently  freely  directed  his  life,  w.hich 
henceforth  she  could  not  do.  His  readiness  to  help 
sinful  women  laid  him  open  to  misunderstanding  (Luke 
7:  39).  He  shielded  the  woman  that  was  a  sinner  from 
her  accusers  and  himself  would  not  condemn  her.  He 
elevated  the  position  of  the  wife  with  the  teaching  that 
"the  twain  shall  be  one  flesh"  (Matt.  19:  5)  and  that 
fornication  alone  is  a  ground  for  divorce.  How  lofty 
his  position  was  in  contrast  with  contemporary  prac- 
tice is  voiced  in  the  surprised  comment  of  the  disciples : 
"If  the  case  of  the  man  is  so  with  his  wife,  it  is  not 
expedient  to  marry"  (Matt.  19:  10).  The  great  Hillel 
allowed  divorce  if  the  wife  spoiled  the  husband's  din- 
ner. Jesus  forgave  the  penitent  sinner,  "for  she  loved 
much"  (Luke  7:  47).  He  justified  the  grateful  Mary 
in  anointing  him  with  costly  nard  against  the  day  of 
his  burial,  showing  his  comprehension  of  the  feminine 
soul.  In  the  house  of  Simon  the  leper  he  associated 
1 08 


JESUS  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM 

forever  the  gracious  deed  of  one  woman  with  the  Gos- 
pel itself.  He  had  compassion  on  the  bereaved  widow 
of  Nain.  He  noted  and  commended  the  generosity  of 
the  poor  widow  who  gave  her  two  mites.  He  openly 
assured  the  woman  afflicted  with  the  issue  of  blood, 
who  had  been  healed  by  secretly  touching  his  garment 
in  the  crush,  that  her  faith  had  made  her  whole.  So 
far  as  we  can  detect,  Jesus  makes  no  discrimination 
whatsoever  against  women  as  a  class,  but  accords  them 
exactly  the  same  recognition  given  to  men,  understand- 
ing their  hearts  intuitively,  through  a  feminine  quality 
in  his  own  soul. 

Paul  wrote:  "There  can  be  no  male  and  female;  Feminine  Traits 
for  ye  all  are  one  man  in  Christ  Jesus"  (Gal.  3:  28).  of  Jesus 
The  Apocryphal  Gospel  of  the  Egyptians  records  that 
on  "being  asked  by  Salome  when  his  kingdom  should 
come,  he  is  reported  to  have  answered,  'when  the  two 
shall  be  one,  and  the  male  with  the  female,  neither  male 
nor  female.' "  The  feminine  quality  in  the  soul  of 
Jesus  is  shown  by  the  womanly  graces  of  his  character 
and  certain  womanly  virtues  in  his  teaching,  such  as, 
warning  against  the  lustful  eye;  his  modest  unwilling- 
ness to  shame  the  sinful  woman  by  looking  at  her; 
the  strength  of  his  emotions,  to  be  considered  later; 
his  tenderness,  forbearance,  patience,  long-suffering, 
his  undying  loyalty  to  his  own,  his  receptiveness  to  ex- 
pressions of  affection,  his  endurance,  his  submissive- 
ness,  his  quick  and  reliable  moral  judgments,  his  in- 
tuitions of  truth,  his  subjection  of  legality  to  the  de- 
mands of  his  soul,  the  reference  to  the  mother's  joy 
after  travail  that  a  man  is  born  into  the  world  (John 
16:  21 ),  and  his  fondness  for  children.  These  all  show 
the  womanliness  of  the  soul  of  Jesus,  something  quite 
other  than  effeminacy. 

109 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


Responsive- 
ness of 
Woman  to 
Jesus 


Jesus  and 

Children 


Jesus  Blessed 
Children 


These  feminine  traits,  coupled  with  no  failure  in 
manhood,  help  us  to  understand  the  responsiveness  to 
him  of  women  then,  and  through  the  centuries  to  the 
present  day.  A  list  of  the  names  of  women  figuring 
in  the  gospel  stories  written  by  men  is  significant: 
Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus ;  Mary,  the  wife  of  Cleopas ; 
Mary,  the  sister  of  Lazarus ;  Mary  of  Magdala ;  Martha 
of  Bethany;  Salome,  the  mother  of  James  and  John; 
to  which  may  be  added  many  unnamed  women,  his 
"sisters,"  the  sinner  who  anointed  him,  the  company  of 
ministering  women,  the  woman  who  called  out  bless- 
ings on  his  mother  from  the  crowd,  and  the  many 
for  whom  he  did  works  of  mercy.  He  was  born  of 
woman,  nurtured  by  woman,  followed  by  woman,  minis- 
tered to  by  woman,  anointed  by  woman,  bewailed  by 
woman  on  the  way  to  the  cross,  attended  by  woman 
at  the  crucifixion,  sought  by  woman  at  the  sepulchre, 
attested  by  woman  at  the  resurrection,  and  witnessed 
by  woman  at  the  ascension.  Yet  he  married  no  woman, 
chose  no  woman  as  a  disciple,  and  claimed  as  his  sister 
and  mother  any  one  who  did  the  will  of  the  heavenly 
Father. 

Jesus  himself  was  an  infant,  a  child,  a  young  man. 
We  have  the  beautiful  picture  of  his  infancy  with 
angels'  singing,  his  mother's  tender  care,  the  gifts 
of  the  wise  men,  and  the  gladness  of  all  who  saw  him. 
We  have  the  graphic  and  naturalistic  picture  of  his 
childhood  as  he  grew,  became  strong,  became  wiser, 
with  the  favor  of  God  resting  on  him.  We  have  the 
Temple  scene  in  his  youth,  showing  him  eager  to  learn, 
already  knowing  much,  and  thinking  of  God  as  his 
Father. 

As  a  man  Jesus  blessed  little  children.  It  made  such 
an  impression  on  his  followers  to  see  him  turn  aside 
no 


JESUS  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM 

from  his  regular  work  of  healing  and  teaching  to  re- 
ceive little  children  in  his  arms  from  their  mothers  and 
bless  them,  that  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke  all  record 
the  incident.  He  saw  in  their  simplicity,  love,  depend- 
ence, and  trustfulness  characteristics  of  his  Kingdom. 
He  thanked  his  Father,  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth, 
for  hiding  the  truths  of  the  Kingdom  from  the  wise 
and  understanding  and  revealing  them  unto  babes.  By 
his  power  he  fed  the  children  as  well  as  the  women 
in  the  company  of  five  thousand  men. 

Jesus  healed  little  children,  among  whom  were  the  Jesus  Healed 
demoniac   boy,  the  nobleman's   son,   the  daughter   of   ChUdren 
Jairus,  the  daughter  of  the  Canaanitish  woman,  and 
the  servant  of  the  centurion.    In  addressing  the  daugh- 
ter of  Jairus,  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue,  he  used  a 
diminutive    form    of    the    Aramaic    word    for    lamb, 
"Talitha,"  expressive  of  the  appeal  of  children  to  him, 
as  though  he  had  said  in  our  language,   "Lambkin, 
arise." 

Jesus  understood  the  ways  of  little  children.  He  Jesus 
had  observed  them  playing  wedding  and  funeral  in  the 
market-place  (Luke  7:  32).  He  makes  one  father  who 
does  not  want  to  rise  and  serve  a  friend  in  need  give 
as  excuse:  "my  children  are  with  me  in  bed"  (Luke 
ii :  7).  And  he  knew  about  parents,  though  evil, 
giving  good  gifts  to  their  children.  What  a  father  to 
Jesus  Joseph  must  have  been  that  Jesus  adopted  the 
term  for  God ! 

Jesus  gave  a  great  many  teachings  about  little  chil-  Teachings 
dren,  though  so  few  of  his  words  have  come  down  to 
us.  In  fact,  he  used  a  little  child  as  an  object-lesson 
for  the  grown  disciples,  setting  him  in  their  midst,  and 
taking  him  in  his  arms,  and  saying  emphatically  to 
them:  "Except  ye  turn,  and  become  as  little  children, 

in 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
Whosoever,  therefore,  shall  humble  himself  as  this  little 
child,  the  same  is  the  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  And  whoso  shall  receive  one  such  little  child 
in  my  name  receiveth  me  (and  whosoever  receiveth 
me,  receiveth  not  me,  but  him  that  sent  me.  Mark  9: 
37).  Whoso  shall  cause  one  of  these  little  ones  that 
believe  on  me  to  stumble,  it  is  profitable  for  him  that 
a  great  millstone  should  be  hanged  about  his  neck,  and 
that  he  should  be  sunk  in  the  depth  of  the  sea.  .  .  . 
See  that  ye  despise  not  one  of  these  little  ones;  for 
I  say  unto  you  that  in  heaven  their  angels  do  always 
behold  the  face  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven.  .  .  . 
It  is  not  the  will  of  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven  that 
one  of  these  little  ones  should  perish"  (Matt.  18:  3-6, 
10,  14).  Some  of  these  teachings  about  offending  and 
despising  little  ones  apply  to  those  young  in  faith  as 
well  as  to  children. 

Children  Is  it  not  small  wonder  that  the  mothers  wanted  to 

Praised  Him  bring  their  children  to  Jesus,  that  they  were  glad  to 
come,  and  that  they  praised  him  in  song  after  the 
second  cleansing  of  the  Temple,  catching  up  the  re- 
frain they  had  heard  from  their  elders  on  Palm  Sunday 
and  saying  "Hosanna  to  the  son  of  David"?  (Matt. 
21 :  15).  To  the  complaining  scribes  and  chief  priests 
Jesus  justified  the  song  of  the  children,  quoting  from 
their  Scriptures :  "Yea :  did  ye  never  read,  Out  of  the 
mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings  thou  hast  perfected 
praise?"  (Matt.  21:  16).  He  told  the  women  of  Jeru- 
salem who  were  lamenting  him :  "weep  not  for  me,  but 
weep  for  yourselves,  and  for  your  children"  (Luke 
23:  28).  One  of  his  last  injunctions  to  Peter  was, 
"Feed  my  lambs"  (John  21:  15). 
At  times  Jesus  applied  the  term  children  to  adults, 

112 


JESUS  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM 

in  some  cases  with  very  tender  significance.  To  his  Adults  Called 
disciples  at  the  last  supper  he  says,  "Little  children,  Children 
yet  a  little  while  I  am  with  you"  (John  13:  33) — a 
phrase  taken  up  by  John  in  his  epistles  several  times, 
as  in,  "Little  children,  keep  yourselves  from  idols" 
(I  John  5 :  21).  The  risen  Jesus  addresses  his  disciples 
by  the  sea  of  Galilee,  "Children,  have  ye  aught  to  eat?" 
(John  21 :  5).  He  laments  over  Jerusalem:  "How  oft 
would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together!"  (Luke 
*3:  34)-  He  anticipated  the  days  when  the  enemies 
of  Jerusalem  should  dash  her  to  the  ground,  "and  thy 
children  within  thee"  (Luke  19:  44).  The  peace- 
makers he  thought  of  as  the  children  of  God.  He 
likened  the  children  of  the  Kingdom  to  good  seed,  and 
enjoined  upon  such  the  love  of  enemies  "that  ye  may  be 
the  children  of  your  Father  in  heaven"  (Matt.  5:  45). 

It  was  characteristic  of  the  social  method  of  Jesus 
to  give  a  new  conscience  and  attitude  toward  children, 
but  not  to  give  regulations  for  rearing  them,  as  did 
Plato.  In  view  of  the  recognition  he  accorded  women 
and  children  in  both  his  life  and  his  teaching,  it  is 
only  natural  that  wherever  Christianity  spreads,  there 
women  and  children  come  finally  into  their  own. 

The  sixth  of  the  principles  of  Jesus  conducive  to  The  ideal 
social  reform  is  the  ideal  of  divine  perfection.  "Ye  of  Divine 
therefore  shall  be  perfect,  as  your  heavenly  Father  is 
perfect"  (Matt.  5:  48).  The  future  indicative  has  the 
effect  of  an  imperative.  The  statement  comes  out  at 
the  end  of  one  section  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 
It  summarizes  an  argument.  The  preceding  thought 
makes  clear  what  is  meant  by  this  counsel  of  perfection. 
The  Father  in  heaven  is  loving  and  serving  all  men, 
making  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  the  good,  and 
sending  rain  on  the  just  and  the  unjust.  Even  so  men 
"3 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

are  to  be  the  sons  of  their  Father  who  is  in  heaven, 
by  loving  their  enemies  and  praying  for  their  perse- 
cutors. The  peacemakers  are  blessed,  for  they  shall 
be  called  sons  of  God.  The  pure  in  heart  are  blessed, 
for  they  shall  see  God.  The  Kingdom  of  God  and  His 
righteousness  are  to  be  sought  first,  after  which  ma- 
terial benefits  will  follow  (Matt.  6:  33).  As  God  gives 
light  to  all  by  making  his  sun  to  rise,  so  are  the  disci- 
ples "the  light  of  the  world"  (Matt.  5:  14).  The  per- 
fection of  man  consists  in  his  godlikeness  in  loving  and 
serving  both  the  evil  and  the  good.  Such  individual 
worth  produces  social  well-being. 

Life  is  Seventh,  human  life  is  regarded  by  Jesus  as  achieve- 

Achievement  ment  for  God.  The  agents  of  God  require  the  soul 
of  the  Rich  Fool,  who  laid  up  treasure  for  himself 
without  being  rich  toward  God.  The  giving  and  lend- 
ing life,  not  the  hoarding  and  withholding  life,  Jesus 
urges  (Matt.  5:  42).  Talents  are  given  by  God  for 
use,  and  their  neglect  receives  severest  condemnation : 
"Thou  wicked  and  slothful  servant.  .  .  .  Take  ye 
away  therefore  the  talent  from  him.  .  .  .  Cast  ye  out 
the  unprofitable  servant"  (Matt.  25:  26,  28,  30).  The 
condemnation  of  Dives  was,  not  that  he  had  wealth,  but 
that  he  did  not  share  it.  The  servant  who  abuses  his 
position,  eating  and  drinking,  and  beating  his  fellow- 
servants,  shall  be  severely  scourged  and  have  his  por- 
tion appointed  with  the  hypocrites.  Servants  good  and 
faithful  in  that  which  is  another's  are  given  rulership 
over  many  things  of  their  own  and  enter  into  the  joy 
of  their  Lord.  When  life  is  grasped  as  stewardship, 
there  is  developed  at  once  social  motive  and  purpose. 
The  deepest  reason  perhaps  that  Jesus  ever  gave  for 
healing  on  the  Sabbath  was:  "My  Father  worketh 
hitherto  and  I  work"  (John  5:  17). 
114 


JESUS  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM 

Eighth,  Jesus  relied  on  the  influence  of  personality  influence  of 
in  the  spread  of  the  Kingdom.  Two  of  John's  disci-  Personality 
pies  asked  him,  after  John's  testimony  concerning  him, 
where  he  abode,  and  he  bade  them  come  and  see.  These 
two  were  Andrew  and  probably  John.  The  first  thing 
Andrew  did  after  being  with  Jesus  one  day  was  to  find 
his  brother  Simon  and  bring  him  to  Jesus,  whom 
Andrew  already  acknowledged  to  be  the  Messiah. 
Jesus  attached  Simon  to  himself  by  changing  his  name 
to  Cephas,  or  Peter.  The  next  day  Jesus  called  Philip 
to  follow  him,  and  Philip,  being  convinced  that  Jesus 
was  the  one  of  whom  Moses  and  the  prophets  wrote, 
found  Nathanael.  When  Nathanael  hesitated  because 
Jesus  came  from  Nazareth,  Philip  used  effectively  the 
earlier  words  of  Jesus:  "Come  and  see"  (John  i:  46). 
Jesus  attached  Nathanael  unto  himself  by  recognizing 
his  guileless  character  and  through  having  noted  him 
under  the  fig  tree.  The  faith  of  the  early  disciples  was 
deepened  after  the  sign  at  the  wedding  feast  in  Cana. 
Jesus  conversed  by  night,  perhaps  in  the  open  on  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  with  Nicodemus,  the  ruler  of  the 
Jews,  who  was  so  impressed  that  later  he  objected  when 
the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees  would  condemn  Jesus 
unheard  and  do  contrary  to  their  law,  and  after  the 
crucifixion  he  brought  a  hundred  pounds  of  myrrh  and 
aloes  for  the  body.  Jesus  conversed  with  the  woman 
of  Samaria  and  she  became  an  evangelist  to  the  men 
of  her  city.  Standing  by  the  sea  of  Galilee,  he  saw  two 
brothers,  James  and  John,  sons  of  Zebedee,  mending 
their  nets  in  the  boat;  he  called  them;  and  they  left 
the  boat  and  their  father  with  the  hired  servants,  and 
followed  him.  Jesus  saw  a  tax-collector,  a  publican, 
named  Levi,  the  son  of  Alphseus,  called  Matthew,  sit- 
ting at  the  place  of  toll  and  called  him,  saying:  "Fol- 

"5 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

low  me,"  and  Matthew  arose,  forsook  all,  and  followed 
him.  After  continuing  all  night  in  prayer  to  God,  Jesus 
called  his  disciples  unto  him,  chose  and  appointed 
twelve  from  among  them,  whom  he  named  apostles, 
that  they  might  be  with  him  and  that  he  might  send 
them  forth.  Without  the  aid  of  his  disciples  who  were 
not  yet  converted  to  the  idea  of  a  spiritual  kingdom,  he 
sent  the  multitudes  away  who  would  take  him  by  force 
and  make  him  king,  the  crowd  not  being  responsive  to 
his  highest  appeals,  but  following  him  for  the  loaves 
and  fish.  Likewise,  after  feeding  the  four  thousand, 
he  sent  them  away.  After  healing  the  blind  man  of 
Bethsaida,  he  sent  him  home  with  the  injunction  not 
to  enter  into  the  village,  fearing  a  following  who  looked 
for  outward  signs.  He  elicited  from  his  disciples 
through  Peter  the  confession  that  he  was  the  Christ 
and  then  charged  them  that  they  should  tell  no  man, 
lest  his  following  grow  by  hearsay  evidence.  Jesus 
took  with  him  Peter,  James,  and  John  and  brought  them 
up  with  him  in  the  high  mount  of  Transfiguration.  A 
certain  scribe  who  would  follow  him  anywhere  he 
warned  of  the  difficulty  of  following  one  who  had 
not  where  to  lay  his  head.  To  a  really  quickened  and 
sensitive  soul  who  would  follow  him  after  first  burying 
his  father  Jesus  said,  "Leave  the  dead  [spiritually] 
to  bury  their  own  dead ;  but  go  thou  and  publish  abroad 
the  kingdom  of  God"  (Luke  9:  60).  To  another  who 
would  follow  after  bidding  farewell  to  his  relatives, 
Jesus  said :  "No  man,  having  put  his  hand  to  the  plough, 
and  looking  back,  is  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God"  (Luke 
9:  62).  Not  superficial,  but  binding,  personal  attach- 
ment would  he  have.  He  appointed  seventy  others,  and 
sent  them  two  by  two  before  his  face  into  every  city 
and  place,  whither  he  himself  was  about  to  come.  He 
116 


JESUS  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM 

taught  that  men  are  spared  from  calamities,  such  as 
overcame  the  Galilaean  martyrs  and  the  eighteen  upon 
whom  the  Tower  in  Siloam  fell,  in  order  that  they  may 
repent  and  bear  fruit.  Jesus,  loving  the  rich  and  good 
young  ruler,  pointed  out  to  him  the  one  thing  lacking 
to  his  being  perfect.  Jesus  found  the  poor  blind  man 
excommunicated  by  the  Pharisees,  and  established  his 
belief  in  the  Son  of  God.  The  cursing  of  the  barren 
fig  tree  is  a  parable  of  the  withering  away  of  Pharisaic 
and  all  fruitlessness.  The  visit  of  the  Greeks  caused 
trouble  to  the  soul  of  Jesus  at  the  prospect  of  the 
crucifixion,  which  was  relieved,  however,  by  the  vision 
of  all  men  being  thereby  drawn  unto  him.  From  the 
multitude  who  rejected  the  idea  that  the  Son  of  Man 
must  be  lifted  up,  Jesus  departed  and  hid  himself,  as 
from  the  multitude  who  would  make  him  king,  being 
reminded  thereby  of  his  temptation.  In  the  same  way 
Jesus  did  not  commit  himself  to  those  who  believed 
on  him  at  the  feast  of  the  passover  because  of  the  signs 
which  he  did,  and  which  he  performed  not  to  win  fol- 
lowers, but  in  compassion.  Selected  individuals  he  care- 
fully instructed  that  he  was  a  suffering  and  spiritual 
Messiah;  crowds  who  rejected  these  ideas,  holding  that 
the  Christ  abides  forever  as  a  temporal  ruler,  and  be- 
lieving him  to  be  such  because  of  his  works  of  mercy, 
he  sent  away,  escaped  from,  and  refused  to  trust.  Two 
most  striking  things  in  conformity  with  his  refusal  to 
cast  himself  down  from  the  pinnacle  of  the  Temple  are 
first,  he  never  worked  a  miracle  to  win  a  follower,  and 
second,  he  never  allowed  the  beneficiary  of  a  miracle 
to  follow  him,  though  he  received  tokens  of  gratitude 
from  such.  "Go  thy  way,"  he  would  say,  as  to  the 
accused  woman  whom  he  did  not  condemn,  the  grateful 
one  of  the  ten  cleansed  lepers,  and  blind  Bartimaeus. 

117 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

The  risen  Christ  continues  to  emphasize  the  same  prin- 
ciple of  the  spread  of  influence  by  personal  contact, 
saying  to  the  disciples:  "As  the  Father  hath  sent  me, 
even  so  send  I  you"  (John  20:  21).  The  Great  Com- 
mission lays  the  obligation  on  disciples  to  make  disci- 
ples, and  the  last  recorded  sentence  of  the  ascending 
Lord  contains  the  words:  "Ye  shall  be  my  witnesses" 
(Acts  i:  8).  Thus  the  social  Kingdom  comes  through 
the  influence  of  individual  contact. 

The  ninth  and  last  of  Jesus'  principles  of  social  re- 
form is  progress  by  growth.  "First  the  blade,  then  the 
ear,  then  the  full  corn  in  the  ear"  (Mark  4:  28)  is  his 
own  statement  of  the  principle.  He  likens  the  Kingdom 
to  seed  cast  upon  the  earth,  springing  up  and  grow- 
ing one  knows  not  how;  he  likens  the  word  of  the 
Kingdom  to  the  seed  of  the  sower,  some  of  which 
falls  on  good  ground,  grows  up,  increases,  and 
brings  forth  some  thirtyfold,  some  sixtyfold,  some  a 
hundredfold.  Again  he  likens  the  Kingdom  to  wheat 
and  tares  growing  together  until  the  harvest;  and 
again  to  the  small  mustard  seed  growing  up  and  becom- 
ing greater  than  all  the  herbs ;  and  still  again  to  leaven 
hid  in  three  measures  of  meal  till  it  was  all  leavened. 
The  end  should  not  come  until  the  Gospel  of  the  King- 
dom had  been  preached  in  the  whole  world  for  a  testi- 
mony unto  all  the  nations.  The  end  was  measured 
not  by  days  and  years,  but  by. the  completion  of  the 
process  of  growth.  The  thinking  of  Jesus  on  this  point 
is  by  analogy  from  nature.  The  significance  of  this 
principle  is  that  the  transformation  of  human  society 
into  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  a  developmental  process, 
not  coming  by  observation. 

Such  are  the  nine  social  principles  of  Jesus,  to  the 
effectiveness  of  which  in  changing  the  complexion  of 
118 


JESUS  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM 

human  society  the  course  of  succeeding  human  history, 
dating  itself  from  the  birth  of  Jesus,  is  itself  witness. 
They  show  Jesus  as  a  reformer,  not  by  a  program, 
which  is  local,  but  by  the  social  spirit,  which  is  uni- 
versal. 

\ 


«9 


STUDY  XI 
JESUS  AND  THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN 

its  importance  The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  was  one  of  the  constant 
and  central  themes  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  He  began 
his  ministry  with  the  message  of  repentance,  "for  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  at  hand,"  as  did  John  the  Bap- 
tist, but  Jesus  put  a  less  violent  meaning  into  the  term 
than  did  John;  and  the  evening  before  his  death  he 
•  spoke  of  drinking  the  wine  new  in  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  During  the  intervening  interval  of  almost  three 
years,  the  term  was  frequently  on  his  lips,  it  being  re- 
corded forty-eight  times  by  Matthew,  thirteen  times 
by  Mark,  and  thirty-four  times  by  Luke.  In  John  the 
synonymous  term,  "eternal  life,"  is  used,  except  in  the 
conversations  with  Nicodemus  and  Pilate.  The  Twelve 
and  the  Seventy  are  sent  out  to  announce  the  same 
message  of  John  and  of  Jesus,  that  the  Kingdom  is 
at  hand.  One  of  the  preaching  tours  of  Jesus  was 
devoted  to  "the  gospel  of  the  kingdom"  (Matt.  9: 
35).  John  was  the  dividing  line  between  "the  law  and 
the  prophets"  and  "the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  of  God" 
(Luke  16:  16).  Many  of  the  parables  are  symbols 
of  the  Kingdom.  And  the  disciples  are  taught  to  pray 
for  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom.  It  is  obvious  that  this 
subject  was  one  of  the  essentials  in  the  teaching  of 
Jesus. 

its  Meaning  What  does  the  term  mean?  In  the  prayer  Jesus 

taught  his  disciples  we  find  his  thought  expressed  in  his 
own  words :  "Thy  kingdom  come,  Thy  will  be  done  on 

120 


JESUS  AND  THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN 

earth  as  it  is  in  heaven."  The  Kingdom  is  composed 
of  persons  who  do  the  will  of  God  on  earth.  It  is 
an  individual  as  well  as  a  social  conception;  it  is  an 
inner  as  well  as  an  outer  fact.  It  is  not  outer  in  the 
sense  of  any  particular  political,  economic,  or  social 
organization;  it  is  outer  only  in  the  sense  that  there  is 
nothing  hidden  that  shall  not  be  revealed.  All  outer 
systems  are  to  be  gradually  transformed  by  the  working 
of  the  inner  rule  of  God  in  the  individual  soul,  as  the 
leaven  leavens  the  whole  lump.  It  does  not  come  with 
observation.  To  the  Pharisees  Jesus  said:  "The  king- 
dom of  God  is  in  the  midst  of  you"  (Luke  17:  21, 
margin)  or,  "within  you,"  with  the  second  reading  of 
which  accords  one  of  the  new  sayings  of  Jesus:  "The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  within  you  and  whosoever  shall 
know  himself  shall  find  it,"  reminding  us  also  of  the 
saying  chosen  by  Socrates  from  the  Delphic  oracle  as 
the  motto  of  his  life :  "Know  thyself."  Jesus  meant  you 
would  find  the  fact  of  the  spiritual  within,  Socrates 
meant  you  would  find  your  rational  universality  within ; 
or,  in  short,  Jesus  meant  you  would  find  God,  and 
Socrates  meant  you  would  find  man.  Jesus  was  refuting 
the  formalism  of  the  Pharisees,  Socrates  the  individ- 
ualism of  the  Sophists.  So,  by  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven 
Jesus  meant  the  reign  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  men. 
This  is  its  quality.  As  such,  it  is  an  earthly  pattern 
of  a  heavenly  model,  just  as,  in  Plato's  "Republic," 
justice  in  the  state  is  an  earthly  imitation  of  a  heavenly 
idea,  the  main  difference  being  that  the  thought  of  Jesus 
is  relatively  more  individual  and  personal,  while  Plato's 
is  more  social  and  impersonal. 

But  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus  A  Quality 
is  not  only  a  quality,  it  is  also  a  place.     To  enter  it  andaplace 
with   only   one   eye  is  preferable   to   being   cast  into 

121 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


The  Magna 
Charta  of 
the  Kingdom 


Gehenna  with  two  eyes.  One  does  not  enter  it  by 
saying  "Lord,  Lord,"  but  by  doing  the  will  of  the 
Heavenly  Father.  In  it  many  who  have  come  from 
the  east  and  the  west  shall  recline  with  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob.  In  it,  "the  kingdom  of  their  Father,"  the 
righteous  shall  shine  forth  as  the  sun.  It  is  that 
heavenly  place  where  the  subjects  of  the  Kingdom  on 
earth  shall  be  after  death. 

Jesus  took  the  Old  Testament  conception  of  a  politi- 
cal theocracy  and  enthroned  it  in  the  hearts  of  individ- 
uals, who  in  turn  should  rectify  the  abuses  of  human 
society.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  the  Magna 
Charta  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  In  it  Jesus  pro- 
nounced blessings  on  certain  classes  of  people  not  com- 
monly regarded  as  blessed  by  the  great  ones  of  earth; 
called  his  disciples  salt  of  the  earth  and  light  of  the 
world;  described  himself  not  as  destroying  but  ful- 
filling; illustrated  this  principle  in  the  eight  cases  of 
murder,  adultery,  forswearing,  retaliation,  hating  the 
enemy,  alms-giving,  prayer,  and  fasting,  showing  in 
each  case  how  the  righteousness  necessary  for  enter- 
ing the  Kingdom  exceeded  that  of  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees;  gave  instruction  concerning  the  heavenly 
treasure,  judging,  seeking,  and  finding;  stated  the 
Golden  Rule;  contrasted  the  wide  and  narrow  gate; 
warned  against  false  prophets;  and  contrasted  the  wise 
and  foolish  man.  Each  one  of  these  subjects  has  its 
striking  social  significance  in  the  mind  of  Jesus.  One 
might  regard  forswearing  and  prayer  as  strictly  in- 
dividual matters,  but  in  the  one  case  Jesus  introduces 
the  "Yea"  and  "Nay"  of  social  communication,  and  in 
the  other  the  social  safeguard  of  forgiving  each  other's 
trespasses.  Thus  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  exhibits 
the  nature  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  in  its  inner 

122 


JESUS  AND  THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN 

aspect  of  righteousness  and  its  outer  aspect  of  cor- 
responding social  relations. 

The  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  as  viewed  by  Jesus,  has  Contrasts 
certain  striking  contrasts  with  the  Reign  of  the  Messiah,  ^ith  Scribai 
as  viewed  by  the  scribes  and  others.  In  fact,  the  one 
great  temptation  of  Jesus  was  to  be  the  kind  of  Messiah 
his  contemporaries  were  expecting,  and  so  to  win  ac- 
ceptance. They  looked  for  a  Messiah  who  would  serve 
himself  physically  by  his  great  power,  win  his  people 
by  a  supernatural  sign,  and  establish  his  temporal  reign 
on  earth  over  all  peoples.  But  he  chose  a  Messiahship 
of  service  to  others  rather  than  self,  winning  allegiance 
by  personal  rather  than  super-physical  means,  and 
establishing  a  spiritual  reign  in  the  hearts  of  his  fol- 
lowers. After  the  feeding  of  the  five  thousand  Jesus 
perceived  the  people  would  make  him  a  king  by  force 
and  withdrew  alone  into  the  mountain,  the  place  of 
victory,  with  no  disciple  to  urge  him  to  yield.  Even 
James  and  John  wanted  places  at  his  right  and  left 
hand.  On  Palm  Sunday  the  people  fatuously  cried  out 
blessing  on  the  coming  kingdom  of  their  father  David. 
Even  after  the  resurrection  the  disciples  still  obtusely 
ask  about  the  restoration  of  the  kingdom  to  Israel 
(Acts  i :  6).  So  was  he  beset  and  tempted  both  before, 
during,  and  after  his  ministry  by  the  material  and 
temporal  views  of  his  own  people.  In  contrast  his 
Kingdom  was  spiritual,  inner,  non-political,  non- Jewish, 
universal,  the  filial  companionship  in  all  things  of  man 
and  God. 

We  may  properly  wonder  that  Jesus  is  the  trans-  jesusGave 
forming   agent   of   society  without   having  given   any  aSocial 

„"  ,        Conscience, 

social  system ;  that  he  did  not,  like  Plato,  arrange  the  yQt  a  social 
classes  of  men  in  order  of  philosophic  rulers,  patriotic   System 
defenders,  and  menial  workers  in  the  state;  that  he 

123 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

never  forbade  war  in  so  many  terms,  but  drew  one 
of  his  illustrations  from  a  king's  council  of  war;  that 
he  used  such  practices  as  selling  into  slavery,  self- 
mutilation,  and  casting  into  prison  for  debt  as  illustra- 
tions, without  condemning  the  practices  themselves; 
that  he  would  have  the  will  of  God  done  on  earth  with- 
out specifying  the  resulting  social  program;  that  he 
himself,  so  far  from  being  a  king,  would  not  serve  as 
arbitrator  in  the  matter  of  an  inheritance;  that  he  did 
not  tell  the  soldiers  to  lay  down  their  arms;  that  he 
did  not  tell  the  slave-owners  to  free  their  slaves;  that 
he  did  not  propose  improved  imperial  legislation  for 
the  province  of  Palestine;  that  in  no  sense  was  he  a 
social  agitator.  Second  thought  on  these  matters  re- 
veals the  surpassing  wisdom  of  Jesus  as  a  social  re- 
former. He  did  not  care  for  the  machinery  of  society, 
he  would  only  make  men  perfect  in  love  to  God  and 
man,  and  these  perfected  men  would  salt  the  earth  and 
light  the  world,  in  whatever  age  and  under  whatever 
social  conditions.  Jesus  gave  a  spirit  of  love  and  serv- 
ice and  left  systems  to  his  followers  of  every  age.  This 
makes  his  teaching  of  universal  application,  while  that 
of  Plato,  his  close  competitor  in  the  field  of  theoretical 
social  reconstruction,  is  mainly  local.  Jesus  taught  a 
way  of  life  for  any  system,  and  walked  in  it  himself. 
Our  wonder  passes  and  we  cease  to  be  surprised  that 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  nations  like  the  Argentine  and 
Chile  have  made  perpetual  peace;  that  war  is  being 
internationally  attacked  as  a  mode  of  settling  national 
disputes;  that  first  slaves,  then  serfs,  and  now  peons 
are  being  freed ;  that  enlightenment  has  spread,  democ- 
racies have  triumphed,  women  and  children  have  had 
their  hours  of  labor  lightened,  the  daily  bread  has  been 
made  more  pure  and  wholesome,  preventive  medicine 
124 


JESUS  AND  THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN 

is  emphasized;  that  debtors  are  no  longer  cast  into 
prison;  that  inheritance  legislation  is  enacted;  that 
capital  and  labor  approach  each  other;  and  that  Jesus 
is  becoming  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords. 

The  principle  of  Jesus  is,  regenerate  the  individual,  Theindi- 
and  regenerated  individuals  will  regenerate  society.  !**; 
Those  who  miss  this  second  emphasis  in  Jesus  fail  to 
note  the  significance  of  his  teaching  about  saying 
"Lord"  and  not  doing  as  the  Lord  says.  He  improves 
individuals  by  dynamic  connection  with  God;  these  he 
leaves  to  improve  their  own  physical  and  social  en- 
vironment. His  prayer  was  not  that  his  disciples  should 
be  taken  out  of  the  world — of  which  they  were  the 
salt,  and  the  light,  and  the  leaven — but  that  they  should 
be  kept  from  evil.  It  is  the  individual  in  society  he 
reaches.  His  social  gospel  is  the  immediate  and  neces- 
sary consequence  of  his  individual  gospel. 


125 


STUDY  XII 


The  Question 


Foreign 
Associations 
of  His  Infancy 


John's  View 


Faith  of  a 
Roman 


An  Alien 
Woman'!  Faith 


JESUS  AND  MISSIONS 

What  was  to  be  the  extent  of  the  Kingdom  of  heaven 
on  earth?  No  limits  whatsoever  are  finally  put  on  its 
growth.  This  is  the  point  of  view  from  which  to  ap- 
proach the  study  of  Jesus  and  missions.  As  heretofore, 
we  will  look  first  at  his  life,  and  then  at  his  teachings, 
in  relation  to  missions. 

Even  his  infancy  is  associated  in  story  and  prophecy 
with  foreign  personages,  countries,  and  people.  Wise 
men  from  the  East  come  to  worship  him  who  was 
born  king  of  the  Jews.  As  an  infant  he  is  carried  into 
Egypt.  The  righteous  and  devout  Simeon  saw  in  the 
infant  Jesus  the  salvation  of  God  "prepared  before  the 
face  of  all  peoples ;  a  light  for  revelation  to  the  Gentiles, 
and  the  glory  of  thy  people  Israel"  (Luke  2:  31,  32). 

At  the  outset  of  the  ministry  John  the  Baptist,  as 
reported  by  John  the  evangelist,  strikes  the  universal 
note  in  the  mission  of  Jesus :  "Behold,  the  Lamb  of  God, 
that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world!"  (John  I:  29). 

Early  in  his  ministry  the  faith  of  the  Roman  cen- 
turion caused  Jesus  to  marvel  and  to  turn  and  say  to 
the  multitude  following  him :  "I  have  not  found  so  great 
faith,  no,  not  in  Israel.  And  I  say  unto  you,  that 
many  shall  come  from  the  east  and  the  west,  and  shall 
sit  down  with  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven."  There  were  to  be  no  racial  or 
geographical  boundaries  to  the  Kingdom. 

After  having  given  offense  to  the  ceremonious  Phari- 
sees in  his  teaching  concerning  inward  cleansing,  Jesus 
126 


JESUS  AND  MISSIONS 

withdrew  into  the  borders  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  seeking 
retirement,  but  he  could  not  be  hid.  He  was  besought 
by  a  Canaanitish  woman,  a  Greek,  a  Syrophoenician 
by  race,  in  behalf  of  her  little  daughter  with  an  unclean 
spirit.  Falling  at  his  feet,  she  said:  "Lord,  help  me." 
His  reply  was  not  a  refusal,  he  did  in  fact  heal  her 
daughter,  but  he  tested  her  faith  with  the  reply:  "Let 
the  children  first  be  filled :  for  it  is  not  meet  to  take  the 
children's  bread  and  cast  it  to  the  dogs"  (Mark  7:  27). 
Here  an  order  of  blessing  is  indicated,  beginning  with 
the  children.  There  is  no  intimation  that  only  the 
children  will  be  fed.  The  healing  of  the  afflicted  daugh- 
ter is  the  best  evidence  that  the  Gospel  is  for  those  in 
need,  not  those  of  a  certain  race. 

The  Samaritans  were  half  Jews.  So  far  from  avoid-  Labors  in 
ing  the  route  through  Samaria  in  journeying  from 
Judaea  to  Galilee,  as  was  customary  by  the  Jews,  Jesus 
felt  an  inward  compulsion  to  pass  through  Samaria. 
He  spoke  living  words  to  a  sinning  woman  in  Sychar, 
and  at  the  request  of  the  Samaritans  abode  there  two 
days,  and  many  believed  on  him.  Again,  in  going  up  to 
Jerusalem,  he  passed  through  Samaria.  One  village 
did  not  receive  him  because  of  his  evident  destination, 
the  Jews  and  Samaritans  having  no  dealings  with  each 
other,  but  he,  rejecting  the  counsel  of  "the  sons  of 
thunder,"  James  and  John,  to  bid  fire  to  come  down 
from  heaven  and  consume  the  villagers,  simply  went 
on  to  another  village.  Once  again,  in  journeying  to 
Jerusalem  along  the  borders  of  Samaria  and  Galilee, 
Jesus  healed  ten  lepers,  one  of  whom  turned  back  from 
his  mission  to  the  priest  to  glorify  God  and  give  thanks 
to  Jesus,  and  he  was  a  Samaritan.  Jesus  signalized 
this  act  of  gratitude  with  the  words:  "Were  not  the 
ten  cleansed?  but  where  are  the  nine?  Were  there 
127 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


The  Temple 


none  found  that  returned  to  give  glory  to  God,  save 
this  stranger?"  (Luke  17:  17,  18).  Not  only  by  these 
three  recorded  instances  of  labor  in  Samaria  but  also 
by  the  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  Jesus  illustrated 
the  absence  of  race  antipathy  in  religion.  The  Jews 
even  accused  him  of  being  a  Samaritan  and  having  a 
devil. 

In  his  teaching  following  the  cleansing  of  the  Temple 


The  Coming  of 
the  Greeks 


for  All  Nation*  Jesus  struck  the  universal  note  again  when  he  asked : 
"Is  it  not  written,  'My  house  shall  be  called  a  house  of 
prayer  for  all  the  nations?'"  (Mark  n:  17).  In  fact, 
his  soul  was  too  steeped  in  the  message  of  the  prophets 
for  him  to  fail  to  stress  both  the  social  and  the  world 
viewpoints. 

Jesus  actually  faced  the  Gentile  world  in  vision  when 
the  Greeks  presented  themselves  to  Philip  as  interpre- 
ter with  the  request:  "Sir,  we  would  see  Jesus"  (John 
12:  21 ).  What  effect  did  this  request  have  on  Jesus? 
First,  it  caused  him  to  realize  that  the  hour  of  his 
sacrifice,  which  was  also  the  hour  of  his  glorification, 
had  come.  He  saw  the  first  fruitage  from  a  foreign 
field  that  should  be  borne  by  the  grain  of  wheat  fallen 
into  the  ground  and  dying.  By  hating  his  life  in  this 
world  he  would  keep  it  unto  Life  eternal.  Those  who 
serve  him  were  to  follow  him  in  so  doing,  that  they 
might  both  be  with  him  and  be  honored  by  the  Father. 
Then,  at  this  prospect  of  his  physical  death,  though 
leading  to  such  fruitage,  his  soul  was  troubled,  he  ques- 
tioned whether  he  should  pray  for  deliverance  from  it, 
only  to  check  the  rising  question  with  the  affirmation 
that  for  this  very  cause  he  had  come  to  this  hour,  and 
then  prayed  that  the  Father  would  glorify  His  name. 
So  mightily  did  the  prospect  of  harvest  in  the  Greek 
world  affect  his  soul. 

128 


JESUS  AND  MISSIONS 

The  idea  of  making  converts  was  familiar  to  the  Proselytes  of 
disciples  through  the  active  zeal  of  the  Pharisees  in  **•  P*"™*" 
proselyting.  Jesus  pronounced  woe  upon  the  "scribes 
and  Pharisees,  hypocrites !  for  ye  compass  sea  and  land 
to  make  one  proselyte;  and  when  he  is  become  so,  ye 
make  him  twofold  more  a  son  of  hell  than  yourselves" 
(Matt.  23:  15).  Jesus  never  told  his  disciples  to  make 
no  converts;  on  the  contrary  they  were  called  to  be 
"fishers  of  men."  So  in  this  passage  he  is  not  de- 
nouncing missionary  activity  as  such,  but  its  association 
with  Pharisaic  ends.  Such  a  proselyte  was  worse  off 
than  the  Pharisees  themselves,  having  received  only 
the  husks  of  the  Jewish  religion  and  being  without  its 
antecedent  roots  in  themselves. 

Jesus  himself  in  fact  sent  forth  two  by  two  both  the  The  Mission  ot 
twelve  and  the  seventy.  It  was  when  he  saw  the  multi-  the  TwelTe 
tudes,  and  was  moved  with  compassion  for  them,  be- 
cause they  were  distressed  and  scattered,  as  sheep  not 
having  a  shepherd,  that  he  told  his  disciples  the  harvest 
was  plenteous  and  the  laborers  few,  and  enjoined  upon 
them  to  pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  He  would 
thrust  forth  laborers  into  His  harvest.  Then  he  called 
his  twelve  disciples,  gave  them  authority  to  cast  out 
unclean  spirits  and  heal  all  manner  of  sickness,  charged 
them  in  detail,  and  sent  them  forth  two  by  two  to  preach 
and  to  heal.  For  others  it  was  missionary  work,  for 
themselves  it  was  both  missionary  and  educative  work. 

When  he  set  his  face  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  he  sent  The  Mission  of 
messengers  before  his  face,  in  Samaria,  to  make  ready  the  SeTentJ 
for  him.     This  mode  of  work  so  developed  that  he 
"appointed    seventy   others,   and   sent   them   two    and 
two  before  his  face  into  every  city  and  place,  whither 
he  himself  was  about  to  come"  (Luke  10:  i).    These 
likewise  he  reminded  of  the  plenteous  harvest  and  few 

229 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

laborers  and  the  need  of  prayer,  and  gave  them  their 
charge.  The  report  of  the  seventy  on  their  return  is 
recorded,  as  well  as  the  effect  of  this  report  on  Jesus. 
They  came  back  elated  at  their  power  to  subject  devils 
in  the  name  of  Jesus.  There  was  danger  of  pride  in 
spiritual  power.  Jesus  reminded  them  that  he  had  be- 
held Satan  fallen,  as  lightning  from  heaven,  perhaps 
at  the  Temptation,  that  they  indeed  had  power  over  the 
enemy,  but  that  they  should  rejoice,  not  because  the 
spirits  were  subject  unto  them,  but  because  their  names 
were  written  in  heaven.  Thus  he  let  them  down  by 
lifting  their  thoughts  up.  Then  Jesus  himself,  seeing 
the  harvest  gathered  by  the  laborers  he  had  sent  forth, 
rejoiced  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  thanked  the  Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth  that  it  was  well-pleasing  in  His  sight 
to  hide  these  wonderful  things,  denied  to  prophets  and 
kings,  from  the  wise  and  understanding  and  to  reveal 
them  unto  babes  of  meek  and  lowly  hearts.  Here  was 
a  missionary  enterprise  of  considerable  magnitude  and 
full  of  instruction  in  the  spirit  of  missions. 

The  Charge  to  The  charge  given  to  the  seventy  is  shorter  and  re- 
the  Twelve  peats  that  given  to  the  twelve,  though  the  twelve  were 
apparently  not  of  the  seventy  "others."  The  charge 
to  the  twelve  restricts  the  field  of  operation  to  "the 
lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel"  (Matt.  10:  6); 
provides  the  text  of  the  preaching:  "The  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  at  hand"  (Matt.  10:  7)  ;  includes  the  service 
to  all  the  needs  of  the  body ;  states  the  principle  motiv- 
ating the  work:  "freely  ye  received,  freely  give"  (Matt. 
10 :  8)  ;  states  also  the  principle  of  reward  for  service 
rendered:  "The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  food"  (Matt. 
10:  10) — they  were  to  go  dependent  not  on  themselves, 
but  on  those  served;  a  worthy  house  was  to  be  made 
headquarters  while  in  any  city  or  village;  those  not 
130 


JESUS  AND  MISSIONS 

hospitable  to  the  messengers  were  to  be  testified  against 
by  shaking  off  the  dust  under  the  feet.  Being  as  sheep 
in  the  midst  of  wolves,  they  were  to  be  "wise  as  serpents 
and  harmless  as  doves"  (Matt.  10:  16).  Persecution 
from  men  was  to  be  expected,  but  it  should  be  given 
them  from  the  Father  what  to  say  in  that  hour.  The 
Gospel  would  bring  cruel  family  separations,  and  hatred 
to  themselves,  but  endurance  to  the  end  was  necessary 
for  salvation.  Persecution  should  lead  not  to  resist- 
ance but  to  flight,  for  the  Son  of  Man  should  come 
before  the  cities  of  Israel  had  been  compassed.  Such 
persecution  of  the  members  of  the  household  of  him 
whom  his  enemies  had  called  Beelzebub  was  to  be  ex- 
pected. But  they  were  to  fear  God,  and  have  no  other 
fear,  for  the  truth  shall  be  known,  and  the  Father  who 
marks  the  sparrow's  fall  has  numbered  the  very  hairs 
of  the  head.  Confession  before  men  is  necessary  if 
one  would  be  confessed  before  the  Father.  Jesus  re- 
turns to  the  idea  of  the  family  divisions  that  will  result 
from  the  sword  of  the  Gospel,  and  requires  the  sub- 
ordination of  family  ties  to  love  of  Jesus  himself.  His 
last  thought  is  the  sense  of  unity  of  himself  with  his 
messengers  and  with  the  Father:  "He  that  receiveth 
you  receiveth  me,  and  he  that  receiveth  me  receiveth 
him  that  sent  me"  (Matt.  10:  40).  The  detail  of  this 
charge  indicates  the  thoroughness  with  which  Jesus 
planned  out  the  first  experience  of  the  twelve  as  mis- 
sionaries. There  is  no  additional  point  in  the  charge 
to  the  seventy. 

The  concluding  idea  in  the  charge  that  Jesus  was   jesusWas 
sending  them  even  as  he  himself  was  sent,  is  a  familiar   Himself  Sent 
one  in  the  gospels.    No  less  than  fifty-three  times  Jesus 
is  described  by  himself  or  others  in  the  four  gospels  as 
having  been  sent.     Both  the  origin  and  the  spread  of 
131 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 

the  Christian  religion  is  in  the  sense  of  mission.  Jesus 
came  on  a  mission  from  the  Father;  he  called  others 
to  be  with  him  a  while,  until  they  were  ready  for  him 
to  send  them  on  the  same  mission.  It  is  of  the  essence 
of  the  love  of  God  for  the  world  that  Jesus  should  be 
sent  and  should  send. 

His  Missionary       If  we  turn  from  his  missionary  life  and  his  guidance 
Teachings  o£  missionary  activities  to  his  specific  teachings,  there 

is  a  surprising  amount  of  evidence  that  the  whole  world 
was  in  his  thought  and  plan.  "The  field  is  the  world," 
he  said,  interpreting  the  parable  of  the  tares  in  the 
field  (Matt.  13:  38).  The  whole  of  the  three  measures 
of  meal  is  to  be  leavened.  The  least  of  all  seeds  is 
to  become  the  greatest  of  all  trees. 

He  recalled  two  prophetic  mercies  to  foreigners : 
in  the  long  famine  over  all  the  land  of  Israel,  Elijah 
was  sent  only  to  the  widow  in  Zarephath,  in  the  land 
of  Sidon;  and  of  all  the  lepers  in  Israel  in  the  time 
of  Elisha,  only  Naaman,  the  Syrian,  was  cleansed. 
Such  illustrations  incited  his  fellow-citizens  in  Naza- 
reth to  wrath. 

His  disciples  he  regarded  as  the  salt  of  the  earth, 
the  light  of  the  world,  not  of  Israel  only,  and  this  con- 
ception is  expressed  near  the  outset  of  his  ministry  in 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

In  defending  the  gracious  act  of  the  woman  in  anoint- 
ing his  head  with  an  alabaster  cruse  of  exceeding 
precious  ointment  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  leper  in 
Bethany  against  the  indignant  criticism  of  the  disci- 
ples at  such  "waste,"  he  said  in  part:  "Wheresoever 
this  gospel  shall  be  preached  in  the  whole  world,  that 
also  which  this  woman  hath  done  shall  be  spoken  of 
for  a  memorial  of  her"  (Matt.  26:  13). 

The   twelve   apostles   on  their   mission   were  to   be 
132 


JESUS  AND  MISSIONS 

brought  before  governors  and  kings  for  a  testimony 
to  them  and  to  the  Gentiles.  In  harmony  with  this 
idea,  he  told  the  chief  priests  and  the  elders  that  the 
Kingdom  of  God  should  be  taken  away  from  them  and 
given  to  a  nation  bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof. 

In  the  parable  of  the  slighted  invitation,  the  king 
bids  his  servants  go  unto  the  partings  of  the  highways, 
and  bid  to  the  marriage  feast  as  many  as  they  should 
find.  In  answering  the  question  of  the  disciples  con- 
cerning the  end  of  the  world,  he  said:  "And  these 
good  tidings  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  the 
whole  world  [Gr.  inhabited  earth]  for  a  testimony 
unto  all  the  nations"  (Matt.  24:  14).  Likewise  in 
the  judgment  scene  there  shall  be  gathered  before  the 
Son  of  man  "all  the  nations." 

To  the  Pharisees  he  said  plainly  that  he  had  other 
sheep,  not  of  his  fold,  whom  also  he  must  bring,  who 
should  hear  his  voice,  and  there  should  be  one  flock, 
one  shepherd.  Again  he  taught,  signifying  by  what 
manner  of  death  he  should  die,  that,  if  he  should  be 
lifted  up  from  the  earth,  he  would  draw  all  men  unto 
himself.  He  came  not  to  judge  the  world,  but  to  save 
the  world.  The  world  is  to  know  that  he  loves  the 
Father,  the  world  is  to  believe  that  the  Father  sent 
him.  As  it  was  into  the  world  the  Father  sent  him, 
so  it  was  into  the  world  that  he  sent  his  witnesses. 

It  is  thoroughly  in  keeping  with  these  universal  mis-  The  Great 
sionary  conceptions  that  the  risen  Christ  should  give   Commission 
the  great  commission,  with  its  four  universals,  to  the 
eleven  disciples,  claiming  all  authority,  sending  them 
to  all  nations,  to  teach  them  all  his  commands,  and 
promising   his   presence   all   the   days    until   the   end. 
Finally,  the  risen  and  ascending  Christ  speaks  to  his 
chosen  apostles:  "Ye  shall  be  my  witnesses  both  in 
133 


MODERN  PROBLEMS  AS  JESUS  SAW  THEM 


The  In- 
spiration of 
Missionaries 


Temporary 
Limits 


Urging  of 
Social  and 
Universal 
in  Missions 


Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judaea  and  Samaria,  and  unto 
the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth"   (Acts  i:  8). 

In  the  clarity  and  the  power  of  all  these  words  of 
mission  in  the  good  tidings  brought  by  Jesus,  the  souls 
of  all  missionaries  from  St.  Paul  till  now  have  been 
inspired  and  upheld.  Followers  of  Jesus  have  no  doubt 
about  it — his  Gospel  is  for  all.  So  it  was  intended  and 
so  the  centuries  have  proven  it  to  be. 

Such  is  the  unlimited  extent  of  the  Kingdom  as 
indicated  by  the  missionary  sweep  of  the  life  and 
teachings  of  Jesus.  The  limits  he  set  to  the  field  of 
labor  were  evidently  temporary.  "Go  not  into  any 
way  of  the  Gentiles,  and  enter  not  into  any  city  of 
the  Samaritans"  (Matt.  10:  5),  words  spoken  to  the 
twelve  apostles;  "I  was  not  sent  but  unto  the  lost 
sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel"  (Matt.  15:  24),  words 
spoken  to  the  Canaanitish  woman ;  these  limitations  are 
evidently  transitory.  The  field  of  the  twelve  was 
doubtless  limited  that  their  experience  might  prove 
most  successful  and  educative.  That  their  first  field 
was  limited  for  them  shows  they  might  naturally  have 
entertained  the  idea  of  a  wider  service.  The  Syro- 
phoenician  mother  had  her  faith  tested.  It  was  only 
"first,"  not  exclusively,  that  the  children  were  to  be  fed. 
And  she  received  her  boon. 

At  this  point  the  social  aspect  of  the  Gospel  becomes 
universal.  Since  the  days  of  the  life  and  teachings 
of  Jesus,  the  history  of  man  has  had  to  record  mainly 
the  gradual  increase  of  his  social  leaven.  The  mean- 
ingful thing  in  life  viewed  historically  is  the  steady 
perfecting  of  humanity  after  the  pattern  of  divinity. 
The  rule  of  man  is  growing  into  the  rule  of  God. 
Men  are  becoming  brothers  in  mutual  service,  children 
of  a  common  Father,  members  of  one  family. 
J34 


JESUS  AND  MISSIONS 

At  no  time  is  this  clearer  than  at  the  present  moment  The  Present 
when  the  world  is  at  war,  testing  whether  righteous-  World-struggle 
ness  and  justice  between  nations  are  to  prevail  now 
or  must  yet  wait  a  while.  They  will  prevail  in  the  end. 
Man's  wrath,  even  if  victorious,  can  but  delay  their 
ultimate  triumph.  For  any  government  opposing  these 
ideas  there  is  bound  to  be  downfall,  not  world-power, 
later,  if  not  sooner.  It  is  already  written  in  the  record 
of  divine  and  human  nature  what  the  end  is  to  be — 
that  liberty  and  justice  are  to  prevail,  though  the  time 
of  this  coming  is  hidden.  Human  society  may  delay, 
but  not  thwart,  its  destiny.  Millions  of  witnesses  to 
the  truth  of  God  and  man  are  now,  in  Colonel  Roose- 
velt's phrase,  "paying  with  their  bodies  for  the  desires 
of  their  souls."  Other  millions  are  ready  to  do  the 
same.  It  is  God's  fight  against  the  prince  of  this  world. 

A  modern  prophet,1  writing  under  the  strain  of  the 
world-war,  with  a  keen  sense  of  abiding  realities, 
speaks  thus  of  the  final  outcome:  "I  conceive  myself 
to  be  thinking  as  the  world  thinks,  and  if  I  find  no  great 
facts,  I  find  a  hundred  little  indications  to  reassure  me 
that  God  comes.  Even  those  who  have  neither  the 
imagination  nor  the  faith  to  apprehend  God  as  a  reality 
will,  I  think,  realise  presently  that  the  Kingdom  of 
God  over  a  world-wide  system  of  republican  States  is 
the  only  possible  formula  under  which  we  may  hope  to 
unify  and  save  mankind." 


»H.  G.  Wells.  "Italy,  Prance,  and  Britain  at  War.;: 


135 


A  FEW  SUGGESTED  REFERENCES 

HARNACK,  A.,  "What  Is  Christianity?"  Tr.,  T.  B. 
Saunders.  Lectures  given  in  the  University  of 
Berlin. 

HASTINGS,  JAS.,  ED.,  "A  Dictionary  of  Christ  and  the 
Gospels."  2  Vols.  An  invaluable  aid,  containing 
articles  on  every  important  topic  in  the  gospels. 

HILLIS,  N.  D.,  "The  Influence  of  Christ  in  Modern 
Life."  By  the  pastor  of  Plymouth  Church,  Brook- 
lyn. 

HYDE,  W.  D.,  "From  Epicurus  to  Christ."  Popular 
studies  in  five  philosophies  of  life  by  the  President 
of  Bowdoin  College. 

JENKS,  J.  W.,  "The  Social  Significance  of  the  Teach- 
ings of  Jesus."  Arranged  as  a  text  for  daily  study 
for  twelve  weeks. 

KENT,  C.  F.,  "The  Social  Teachings  of  the  Prophets 
and  Jesus."  Shows  that  the  prophetic  founders  of 
Judaism  and  Jesus  were  preeminently  social  teach- 
ers. 

MATHEWS,  SHAILER,  "The  Social  Teaching  of  Jesus." 
One  of  the  standard  texts. 

MONTGOMERY,  H.  E.,  "Christ's  Social  Remedies." 
Makes  applications  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus  to 
present  problems. 

PEABODY,  F.  G.,  "Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question." 
A  thorough  and  reverent  examination  of  the  teach- 
ings of  Jesus  in  relation  to  modern  social  problems. 

RAUSCHENBUSCH,  WALTER,  "The  Social  Principles  of 
Jesus."     Arranged  for  daily  study,  with  weekly 
comment  for  twelve  weeks. 
136 


A  FEW  SUGGESTED  REFERENCES 

ROSADI,  G.,  "The  Trial  of  Jesus/'  Ed.,  Dr.  Emil  Reich. 
A  brilliant  review  of  the  life  and  teaching  of  Jesus 
in  the  first  hundred  pages. 

SIMPSON,  P.  C,  "The  Fact  of  Christ."  Lectures  by  a 
Glasgow  minister,  mainly  on  the  Gospel  for  the 
individual. 

SPEER,  R.  E.,  "The  Principles  of  Jesus."  Interpreta- 
tions by  an  eminent  student  leader. 

STEVENS,  G.  B.,  "The  Teaching  of  Jesus."  A  sys- 
tematic exposition. 

THOMS,  C.  S.,  "The  Working  Man's  Christ."  A  simple 
and  effective  presentation. 

VAUGHAN,  BERNARD,  Father,  S.  J.,  "Socialism  from  the 
Christian  Standpoint."  Ten  conferences  opposing 
socialism  as  the  settlement  of  the  social  question. 


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